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EARLY PRINTERS AT WORK, 



THE 
STORY OF BOOKS 



BY 



GERTRUDE BURFORD RAWLINGS 



WITH SEVENTEEN ILLUSTRATIONS 



NEW YORK 

D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 

1901 



THE LIBRARY OF 

CONGRESS, 
Two Copies Received 

SEP, 5 1901 

* Copyright entry 
^CLASS <^XXa No 

//VS.3 

COPY A. 




Copyright, 1901, 
Bv D. APPLETON AND COMPANY. 



#f^ 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER PAGE 

I. Introductory 9 

II. The Preservation of Literature . . 13 

III. Books and Libraries in Classical Times . 25 

IV. Books in Medieval Times ... 35 
V. Libraries in Mediaeval Times . . 53 

VI. The Beginning of Printing .... 67 

VII. Who Invented Moveable Types ? . . .77 

VIII. Gutenberg and the Mentz Press ... 84 

IX. Early Printing 98 

X. Early Printing in Italy and some other 

Countries 104 

XI. Early Printing in England . . . .112 

XII. Early Printing in Scotland .... 124 

XIII. Early Printing in Ireland . . . .131 

XIV. Book Binding 136 

XV. How a Modern Book is Produced . . 151 

Postscript 156 

Index 157 

7 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



PAGE 

Early Printers at work .... Frontispiece 

Page from the Book of Kells 36 

Part of Page from the Book of Kells . . . . 37 

Page from the Lindisfarne Gospels .... 42 

Page from the Biblia Pauperum ..... 72 

Type of Mentz Indulgence go 

Page from the Mazarin Bible 93 

Type of the Mazarin Bible ...... 94 

Type of the Subiaco Lactantius 105 

Type of the Aldine Virgil, 1 501 108 

Type of Caxton's Dictes or Sayengis of the Philosophres, 

Westminster, 1477 116 

Boys Learning Grammar . . . . . .118 

Caxton's Device . . . . . . .120 

Type of Wynken de Worde's Higden's Polychronicon, 

London, 1495 . . 122 

Myllar's Device . . . . . . . .125 

Title Page of O'Kearney's Irish Alphabet and Cate- 
chism 133 

Upper Cover of Melissenda's Psalter .... 14 1 



THE STORY OF BOOKS. 



CHAPTER I. 

INTRODUCT ORY. 

The book family is a very old and a very 
noble one, and has rendered great service to man- 
kind, although, as with other great houses, all its 
members are not of equal worth and distinction. 
But since books are so common nowadays as to 
be taken quite as matters of course, probably few 
people give any thought to the long chain of 
events which, reaching from the dim past up to 
our own day, has been necessary for their evolu- 
tion. Yet if we look round on our bookshelves, 
whether we measure their contents by hundreds 
or by thousands, and consider how mighty is the 
power of these inanimate combinations of " rag- 
paper with black ink on them," and how all but 
limitless their field of action, it is but a step 
further to wonder what the first books were like. 
Given the living, working brain to fashion thoughts 
and create fancies, to whom did it first occur to 
write a book, what language and characters and 
material did he use, when did he write, and what 
did he write about ? And although these ques- 
tions can never be answered, an attempt to follow 
them up will lead the inquirer into many fascinat- 
ing bye-ways of knowledge. It is not, however, 

9 



IO THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

the purpose of these pages to deal at length with 
the ancient history of the manuscript book, but, 
after briefly noticing the chief links which connect 
the volumes of to-day with primeval records, to 
present to the reader a few of the many points 
of interest offered by the modern history of the 
printed book. 

The Beginning of Writing. — Books began with 
writing, and writing began at the time when man 
first bethought himself to make records, so that 
the progenitor of the beautiful handwriting and no 
less beautiful print of the civilised world is to be 
looked for in the rude drawing which primeval 
man scratched with a pointed flint on a smooth 
bone, or on a rock, representing the beast he 
hunted, or perhaps himself, or one of his fellows. 
The exact degree of importance he attached to 
these drawings we cannot hope to discover. 
They may have been cherished from purely 
aesthetic motives, or they may have served, at 
times, a merely utilitarian end and acted, perhaps, 
as memoranda. However this may be, these 
early drawings are the germs from which sprang 
writing, the parent of books, and liberator of 
literature, that great force of w^hich a book is but 
the vehicle. How these drawings were gradually 
changed into letters, in other w^ords, the story of 
the alphabet, has been already told in this series 
by Mr. Edward Clodd, and therefore we need not 
deal further with the subject here. 

Writing once learned, and alphabets once 
formulated, the machinery for making books, with 
the human mind as its mainspring, was fairly in 
motion. " Certainly the art of Writing," says 
Carlyle, " is the most miraculous of all things 



INTRODUCTORY. II 

man has devised. . . . With the art of Writing, 
of which Printing is a simple, an inevitable and 
comparatively insignificant corollary, the true 
reign of miracles for mankind commenced." 
That these words only express the feeling of our 
far away ancestors, a cursory glance into the 
mythology of various peoples will prove. For 
wherever there is a tradition respecting writing, 
that tradition almost invariably, if not always, 
connects the great invention with the gods or 
with some sacred person. The Egyptians attrib- 
uted it to Thoth, the Babylonians and Assyrians 
to Nebo, the Buddhists to Buddha, the Greeks to 
Hermes. The Scandinavians honoured Odin as 
the first cutter of the mysterious runes, and the 
Irish derived their ogham from the sacred Ogma 
of the Tuatha de Danaan. And it is noteworthy 
how, from time immemorial, writing, and the 
making of books, have been considered high and 
honourable accomplishments, and how closely 
they have ever been connected with the holy 
functions of priesthood. 

Materials for Writing and Books. — The early 
forms of books were various, and, to modern eyes, 
more or less clumsy. Wood or bark was one 
of the oldest substances used to receive writing. 
Stone was no doubt older still, but stone inscrip- 
tions are outside our subject. The early Greeks 
and Romans employed tablets of soft metal, and 
wooden leaves coated with wax, when they had 
anything to write, impressing the characters with 
a stilus. Thus Pausanius relates that he saw 
the original copy of Hesiod's Works and Days 
written on leaden tablets. The wooden leaves, 
when bound together at one side, foreshadowed 



12 THE STORY OF BOOKS, 

the form of book which is now almost universal, 
and were called by the Romans caudex, or codex 
(originally meaning a tree-stump), in distinction 
to the volumen, which was always a parchment or 
papyrus roll. The oldest manuscript in existence, 
however, is on papyrus, which, as is well known, 
was the chief writing-material of the ancient 
world. Although the discovery that skins of 
animals, when properly prepared, formed a con- 
venient and durable writing-material, was made 
at a very early date, the papyrus held its own as 
the writing-material of literary Egypt, Greece, 
and Rome, until about the fourth or fifth century 
of our era. 

The books of Babylonia and Assyria took the 
form of thick clay tablets of various sizes. The 
wedge-shaped characters they bore were made by 
impressing the wet, soft clay with a triangular- 
pointed instrument of wood, bone, or metal. The 
tablet was then baked, and as recent discoveries 
prove, rendered exceedingly durable. It is a 
matter of conjecture as to whether the form of 
the original documents of the Old Testament was 
that of the Babylonian tablets, or of the Egyptian 
papyrus rolls, or of rolls of parchment. Perhaps 
all three were employed by the various Biblical 
writers at different times. 

It is stretching a point, perhaps, to include 
among writing-materials the tablets of bamboo 
bark which bore the earliest Chinese characters, 
since the inscriptions were carved. The Chinese, 
however, soon discarded such primitive uses, and 
the paper which is so indispensable to-day was 
invented by them at a very early date, though it 
remained unknown to Europe until the Arabs 
introduced it about the tenth century, a.d. One 



THE PRESERVATION OF LITERATURE. 13 

of the earliest extant writings on paper is an 
Arabic " Treatise on the Nourishment of the 
Human Body," written in 960 a.d., but it seems 
to have been printing which really brought paper 
into fashion, for paper manuscripts are rare com- 
pared with those of parchment and vellum. 



CHAPTER II. 

THE PRESERVATION OF LITERATURE. 

It is easier to find the beginning of writing 
than the beginning of literature. Although we 
know for certain that the ancient nations of the 
world had books and libraries, that they pre- 
served traditions, stored records and knowledge, 
and assisted memory by means of their tablets, 
their monuments, and their papyri, we shall prob- 
ably never know when the art of writing was 
first applied to strictly literary purposes, and still 
less likely is it that we shall ever discover when 
works of the imagination were first recorded for 
the edification of mankind. It is not very rash, 
however, to assume that as soon as the art had 
developed the ancients put it to much the same 
uses as we do, except, perhaps, that they did not 
vulgarise it, and no one wrote who had not some- 
thing to write about. But we are not without 
specimens of antique literatures. Egypt has pre- 
served for us many different specimens of her 
literary produce of thousands of years ago — his- 
torical records, works of religion and philosophy, 
fiction, magic, and funeral ritual. Assyria has 
bequeathed to us hundreds of the clay books 



14 THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

which formed the great royal library at Nineveh, 
books of records, mythology, morals, grammar, 
astronomy, astrology, magic; books of reference, 
such as geographical tables, lists of temples, 
plants, birds, and other things. In the Old Testa- 
ment we have all that now remains of Israelitish 
writings, and the early literatures of China and 
India are also partly known to us. After these the 
writings of Greece and Rome are of comparatively 
recent origin, and, moreover, they are nearer to us 
in other respects besides the merely chronological. 
The literature of Greece, dating from the far 
Homeric age, grew up a strong and beautiful 
factor in Greek life, and Rome, drawing first her 
alphabet and then her literature from the land 
before which she stooped, even while she con- 
quered it, passed them on as an everlasting pos- 
session to the peoples of the w y estern world. The 
fact of the literary pre-eminence of Greece partly 
helps to explain why Greek manuscripts form the 
bulk of the early writings now extant. 

In considering how early literature has been 
preserved, therefore, we are hardly concerned 
with Egyptian papyri or cuneiform tablets, 
but with the writings of Greece and Rome, or 
writings produced under Greek or Roman influ- 
ence. And it is curious that while the libraries 
and books of older nations have survived in com- 
paratively large numbers, there should be no 
Greek literary manuscripts older than about 160 
B.C., and even these are very fragmentary and 
scarce. The earliest Latin document known is 
dated 55 a.d., and is an unimportant wax tablet 
from Pompeii. For this lack of early docu- 
ments many causes are responsible, and those 
who remember that it is not human beings only 



THE PRESERVATION OF LITERATURE. 15 

who suffer from the vicissitudes inseparable from 
existence will wonder, not that we have so few 
ancient writings in our present possession, but 
that we have any. The evidence of many curious 
and interesting discoveries of manuscripts made 
from time to time goes to show that accident, 
rather than design, has worked out their preserva- 
tion, and that the civilised world owes its present 
store of ancient literature more to good luck 
than good management, to use a handy collo- 
quialism. It is true, of course, that in early days 
there were many who guarded books as very 
precious things, but in times of wars and tumults 
people would naturally give little thought to 
such superfluities. Fire and war have been the 
agencies most destructive of books, in the opinion 
of the author of Philobiblon, but carelessness 
and ignorance, wanton destruction and natural 
decay, are also accountable for some part of the 
great. losses which have wasted so large a share 
of the literary heritage, and although we are 
deeply indebted to monastic work for the trans- 
mission of classic lore as well as of Christian 
compositions, we can hardly conclude that the 
monkish scribes wrote solely for the benefit of 
posterity. Their immediate purpose, no doubt, 
and naturally so, was much narrower, and identi- 
fied the service of God with the enrichment of 
their houses. Besides, they did not hesitate to 
erase older writings in order that they might use 
the parchment again for their own, whenever it 
suited them to do so. 

Before noting some of the ways by which 
ancient literature has come down to the present 
day, let us for a moment transport ourselves into 
the past, and see how a wealthy Roman lover of 



1 6 THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

letters would set about gathering a collection of 
books. Having no lack of means, all that is best 
in the literary world will be at his service. He 
will first take care that the works of every Greek 
writer which can possibly be obtained, as well as 
those of Roman authors, are represented in his 
library by well-written papyrus rolls containing 
good, correct texts. If he can obtain old manu- 
scripts or original autographs of famous writers, 
so much the better ; but whereas ordinary volumes 
will cost him comparatively little, on these he 
must expend large sums. If a book on which he 
has set his heart is not to be purchased, he may 
be able to obtain the loan of it, so that it may be 
transcribed for him by his hbrarius or writing- 
slave. If he can neither borrow nor purchase 
what he desires, he may commission the book- 
seller to send for it to Alexandria, where there is 
an unrivalled store of books and many skilled 
scribes ready to make copies of them. 

But it is not easy to estimate with any degree 
of certainty the quantity of literary material 
available, say, at the time of the establishment 
of the first public library in Rome, which was 
probably about 39 B.C. Books were common and 
booksellers flourished. Greek and Roman writ- 
ings were preserved on papyrus, not neglected or 
lost, and the various parts of what we now call 
the Old Testament probably existed in the He- 
brew synagogues. We may, perhaps, assume that 
the Roman book collector, did he choose to take 
the necessary trouble, might add to his collection 
some of the writings of ancient Egypt. But no 
doubt Greek and Latin authors only are of value 
in his eyes. At this point it is dangerous to 
speculate further, and we must leave the imagi- 



THE PRESERVATION OF LITERATURE. 17 

nary Roman, and, advancing to our own time, 
where we are on surer ground, ask what remnants 
of old records and literature have come down to 
us, and how have they been preserved? 

It will be disappointing news, perhaps, to 
those to whom the facts are fresh, that no origi- 
nal manuscript of any classical author, and no 
original manuscript of any part of the Bible, Old 
Testament or New, has yet come to light. Noth- 
ing is known of any of these documents except 
through the medium of copies, and in some cases 
very many copies indeed intervene between us 
and the original. For instance, the oldest Ho- 
meric manuscript known, with the exception of 
one or two fragments, is not older than the first 
century B.C., and the most ancient Biblical manu- 
script known, a fragment of a Psalter, is assigned 
to the late third or early fourth century a.d. 
The earliest New Testament manuscript extant, 
the first leaf of a book of St. Matthew's Gospel, 
is also no older than the third century. It is 
curious, too, that no ancient Greek manuscripts 
have been found either in Greece or Italy except- 
ing some rolls discovered in the ruins of Hercu- 
laneum. One reason for this is no doubt the fact 
that when Roman armies assailed Athens and 
other Greek cities they despoiled them not only 
of their statues and works of art, but of their 
books as well. These went to furnish the libra- 
ries of Rome, though it is probable that certain of 
them found their way back to Greece in company 
with some of Rome's own literary produce wmen 
Constantine set up his capital and founded a library 
at Byzantium. Another means by which Greek 
manuscrips left the country was afforded by the 
eagerness of Ptolemy II, to extend the great 
2 



1 8 THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

library of Alexandria, to which end he bought 
books in all parts of Greece, and particularly in 
Athens and Rhodes. 

The Roman libraries did not survive the on- 
slaughts of the barbarians, who seem to have 
carried out a very thorough work of destruction 
in the Eternal City. But it is not unlikely that 
in some cases books, among other portable 
treasures, were carried away when their owners 
sought refuge in less troubled localities, such as 
Constantinople or Alexandria. Still, the fact 
remains that the contents of the Roman libraries 
have disappeared, and that for the ancient manu- 
scripts now in our possession we are indebted to 
the tombs, the temples, the monasteries, and the 
sands of Egypt. Sometimes — to show the strange 
adventures of some of these manuscripts — the 
cartonnage cases in which mummies of the later 
period were enclosed, were made of papyrus 
documents, which apparently had been treated as 
waste paper and put to all sorts of undignified 
uses. The two oldest classical papyri known, 
consisting of fragments of Plato's Phcedo and of 
the Antiope of Euripides, were recovered from 
mummy-cases, and are supposed to date from the 
third century B.C.. Other important Greek texts 
which have been preserved by Egypt are Aristotle's 
Constitution of Athens, the Mimes of Herodas, the 
Odes of Bacchylides, the Gospel and Apocalypse of 
Peter, the Book of Enoch, &c. 

But here we have to take into consideration a 
new and important factor in literary as in other 
matters — the spread of Christianity. With such 
obvious exceptions as the cuneiform records, or 
the Egyptian writings, and similar remains, the 
bulk of the manuscripts (as manuscripts, not as 



THE PRESERVATION OF LITERATURE. 19 

compositions) is the work of (Christian) religious 
houses, and it is easy to see that we owe much to 
the labours of the monks and ecclesiastics who 
have transmitted to us not only the earliest and 
most valuable works of the Church's own writers, 
but also the chief part of the literature of Greece 
and Rome. As Mr. Falconer Madan says in 
his Books in Manuscript, " the number and im- 
portance of the MSS. of Virgil and the four Gos- 
pels is greater than of any other ancient au- 
thors whatever," and it is safe to assume that 
all these Gospel MSS., and perhaps all the 
Virgil MSS. also, were the handiwork of church- 
men. 

As an example of the manuscript treasures 
yielded by Egypt may be instanced the find at 
Behnesa, a village standing on the site of the 
Roman city of Oxyrhynchus, one of the chief 
centres of early Christianity in Egypt. Here, in 
1896, Mr. B. P. Grenfell and Mr. A. S. Hunt, 
searching for papyri on behalf of the Egypt 
Exploration Fund, lighted upon one of the 
richest hunting-grounds yet discovered. The 
result of their excavations was that about 270 
boxes of manuscripts were brought to England, 
while 150 of the best rolls were left at the Cairo 
Museum. I am unable to give the size of the 
boxes, but Professor Flinders Petrie's statement 
that " the publication of this great collection of 
literature and documents will probably occupy 
a decade or two, and will place our knowledge of 
the Roman and early Christian age on a new foot- 
ing," will testify to the extent and importance of 
the find. 

In this collection the document which excited 
most interest was a papyrus leaf bearing some 



20 THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

scraps of Greek, to which the name of AOriA 
IH20Y, or Sayings of our Lord, has been given. 
This leaf is at present assigned to a date between 
150 and 300 a.d. The Logia are eight in num- 
ber, and while three of them are closely similar 
to certain passages in the Gospels, the rest are 
new. Another valuable document was the frag- 
ment of St. Matthew's Gospel alluded to above, 
which, written in the third century, is a hundred 
years older than any New Testament manuscript 
hitherto known. Classical documents also were 
found in great numbers, and included a new Ode 
of Sappho, which, however, is unfortunately im- 
perfect. It was transcribed probably about the 
third century a.d. 

Many Coptic, Syriac, and Arabic manuscripts 
have been recovered from the numerous monas- 
teries of Palestine, Asia Minor, and Egypt. Several 
travellers who have managed to overcome the 
suspicion of the monks and their unwillingness to 
open their literary hoards to strangers, or to part 
with any of the volumes, have found immense 
numbers of books hidden under dust and rubbish 
in vaults and cellars or stowed away in chests, 
where they were probably thrust at some time 
when danger threatened them. Books written in 
these monasteries themselves in earlier days, or 
brought thither from other monasteries further 
east, have thus lain forgotten or neglected for 
centuries, or, if they were noticed at all, it was 
only that they might be put to some ignoble use. 
Thus some were found acting as covers to two 
large jars which had formerly held preserves. 
" I was allowed to purchase these vellum manu- 
scripts," says the authoi of Monasteries of the 
Levant, " as they were jonsidered to be useless 



THE PRESERVATION OF LITERATURE. 2 1 

by the monks, principally, I believe, because there 
were no more preserves in the jars." In another 
case some large volumes were found in use as 
footstools to protect the bare feet of the monks 
from the cold stone floor of their chapel. 

As we have already seen, Christian scribes not 
only preserved the writings of the Fathers of the 
Church, as well as the Holy Scriptures, but also 
directed much of their attention to the classic 
works of poetry and philosophy. In every monas- 
tery from Ireland to Asia Minor, from Seville 
to Jerusalem, the work of transcribing and trans- 
mitting sacred and secular literature was carried 
on, and had we at the present day one half of 
the fruits of this labour we should be rich in- 
deed. But we have also seen that many causes 
have contributed to the destruction of old writ- 
ings, of which carelessness and ignorance are by 
no means the least. The well-known story of 
Tischendorf's discovery of the oldest copy of the 
New Testament in existence,* in a basket of fuel 
at a monastery near Mount Sinai is but a single 
example, and that a modern one, of the dangers 
to which these ancient books were liable, and 
to which they too often fell victims. The danger 
was long ago recognised, however, and a canon 
of the third Council of Constantinople, held in 719 
a.d., enacted "That nobody whatever be allowed 
to injure the book of the Old and New Testa- 
ment, or those of our holy preachers and doctors, 
nor to cut them up, nor to give them to dealers 
in books, or perfumers, or any other person to be 
erased, except they have been rendered useless 
by moths or water or in some other way. He 



* The Codex Sinaiticii "-now at St. Petersburg. 



22 THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

who shall do any such thing shall be excommuni- 
cated for one year." The same Council also 
ordered the burning of heretical books. 

With the revival of learning in the fourteenth 
century there came an awakened interest in an- 
cient writings. They were eagerly sought for in 
the monasteries of Europe, and the learned of 
Italy were especially instrumental in recovering 
the neglected classical works. It has been said 
that almost all the classical authors were discov- 
ered or rediscovered either in Italy or through the 
researches of Italians. Petrarch, with whose name 
the Renaissance is inseparably associated, and a 
contemporary of our Richard de Bury, took great 
pains to form a collection of the works of Cicero, 
whose Epistles he was fortunate enough to rescue 
from destroying oblivion. He tells us that when 
he met strangers, and they asked him what he de- 
sired from their country, he would reply, " Nothing, 
but the works of Cicero." He also sent money 
to France, Germany, Spain, Greece, and England 
that these books might be bought for him, and if 
while travelling he came across any ancient mon- 
astery he would turn aside and explore its book 
treasures. 

Poggio Bracciolini, a learned Italian of the 
fifteenth century, has also made himself famous 
by his ardent pursuit of the remains of classical 
literature, and by aiding the interest in them 
which the Renaissance had awakened. He 
searched Europe for manuscripts to such a good 
purpose that he unearthed a valuable text of 
Quintilian's Institutes^ " almost perishing at the 
bottom of a dark neglected tower," in the 
monastery of St. Gall, anH ecovered many other 
classical writings by his .dustry, including some 



THE PRESERVATION OF LITERATURE. 23 

of the Orations of Cieero ; Lucretius; Manilius, 
and others. He also rescued the writings of 
Tertullian. 

We may perhaps believe that even by this time 
the surviving treasures of the old storehouses of 
literature have not yet been all brought to light. 
Renan discovered in the large collection of 
manuscripts still preserved in the monastery of 
Monte Casino in Italy, some unpublished pages of 
Abelard's Theologia Christiana, and other valuable 
finds besides, and it is quite possible that many 
more surprises are awaiting an enterprising and 
diligent searcher. 

But although the monasteries had so large a 
share in the work of the preservation of literature, 
the monks themselves wrought harm as well as 
good, for in their zeal to record sacred com- 
positions they frequently destroyed older and 
often more valuable documents by scraping off 
the original writing and substituting other. This 
was done for economy's sake, when writing 
material was costly, and parchments thus treated 
are known as palimpsests. Owing to this repre- 
hensible practice, many literary treasures have 
been irretrievably lost. Our Anglo-Saxon litera- 
ture, for instance, is not represented by any con- 
temporary copies. The Anglo-Norman writers had 
a contempt for the old English manuscripts, and 
turned them into palimpsests without the slightest 
idea that there could be an}' value in them, and 
attached far more importance to the writing they 
themselves were about to make. Thus it happens 
that we are in the same position with regard to 
Anglo-Saxon literature as with regard to classical 
authors. No origin 'documents exist, and it is 
known to us solely U ough copies, single copies, 



24 THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

in most cases. Beowulf, for instance, is repre- 
sented only by a manuscript of the first half of 
the eleventh century, and Caedmon by a manu- 
script of the tenth century. 

With the invention and spread of the knowledge 
of printing, however, the risk of loss was greatly 
reduced. Such ancient writings as came into the 
printer's hands were given a fresh lease of life 
which in many cases w 7 as of indefinite length, or 
rather, of practically eternal duration. But the 
fact of being printed was not invariably a safe- 
guard. Some of the works of the early printers 
have disappeared completely, and many are rep- 
resented only by single copies. The strange his- 
tory of the British Museum copy of the famous 
Book of St. Albans, will serve to show the vicissi- 
tudes with which the relics of the past have to 
contend in their journey down the ages. 

At the end of the last century the library of an 
old Lincolnshire house was overhauled by some- 
one who disdainfully turned out of it. all unbound 
books, and had them destroyed. A few of the 
condemned books, however, were begged by the 
gardener. Among them w r as the Book of St. 
Albans. At the gardener's death his son threw 
away some of the rescued volumes, but kept the 
" Book." At the son's death, his widow sold 
such books as he had left, to a pedlar, for the 
sum of ninepence. The pedlar re-sold them to 
a chemist in Gainsborough for shop-paper, but 
observing the strange wood-cuts in the " Book," 
the chemist offered it to a stationer for a guinea. 
The stationer would not purchase, but said he 
would display it in his window as a curiosity. 
Here it attracted attention, and five pounds was 
offered for it by a gentleman in the neighbour- 



BOOKS AND LIBRARIES IN CLASSICAL TIMES. 25 

hood. The stationer, finding the volume an 
object of desire, gave the chemist two pounds 
for it and eventually sold it to a bookseller for 
seven guineas. Of this bookseller the Right Hon. 
Thomas Grenville bought it for seventy pounds, 
and bequeathed it to the British Museum with 
the rest of his magnificent library. This story 
I give on the authority of Mr. Blades, who also, 
to instance the way in which books travel about 
and turn up in odd places, relates that a brother 
of Bishop Heber's, who had been for years seek- 
ing for a book printed by Colard Mansion, but 
without success, one day received a fine copy 
from the bishop, who had bought it from a native 
on the banks of the Ganges. 



CHAPTER III. 

BOOKS AND LIBRARIES IN CLASSICAL TIMES. 

In literary Greece and Rome, so far as we 
can tell from the somewhat meagre information 
handed down to us, literature was pursued for her 
own sake, and filthy lucre did not enter into the 
calculations of authors, who appear to have been 
satisfied if their works met with the approval of 
those who were competent to judge of them. 
Literature walked alone, and had not as yet 
entered into partnership with commerce. The 
writing of books for pecuniary profit is a wholly 
modern development, and even now it is more 
often an aspiration than a realisation. 

In those days, when an author desired to 
make known a work, he would read it aloud to 



26 THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

an invited party of friends. This reading of 
original compositions became in time a common 
item of the programme provided by a host for 
the entertainment of his guests, and it is not 
difficult to imagine that such a custom was often 
subjected to grave abuse, from the guests' point 
of view. Later, the private reading developed 
into the public lecture. Lectures of this kind 
became very frequent in Rome, and we are told 
that it was looked upon as a sort of festival when 
a fashionable author announced a reading. But 
we are also told that some of the audience often 
treated a lecturer of mediocre merit with scant 
courtesy, entering late and leaving early, and 
frequently they who applauded most were those 
who had listened least. The public reading is 
recorded of a poem composed by Nero. It was 
read to the people on the Capitol, and the manu- 
script, which was written in letters of gold, was 
afterwards deposited in the temple of Jupiter 
Capitolinus. 

If a work happened to attract attention by 
reason of its author's reputation or its own merit, 
it was copied by students or others who had 
heard and admired it. This was the only way 
in which literary productions could be dispersed 
and made known to the public at large, or a 
collection of books be gathered together. As 
the literary taste developed, those who were suffi- 
ciently wealthy kept slaves whose sole business 
it was to copy books, which books might be 
either the original works of their master, who by 
this means disseminated his compositions, or the 
works of others, for the benefit of their master's 
library. These slaves, being of necessity well 
educated and skilful scribes, were purchased at 



BOOKS AND LIBRARIES IN CLASSICAL TIMES. 27 

high prices and held in great esteem by their 
owners. But obviously it was only the rich who 
could command such service, and ordinary folk 
had to resort to the bookseller. 

The booksellers of Athens and Rome were 
those who made copies of books, or employed 
slaves to make them, and sold or let them on hire 
to those who had need of them. The author had 
no voice in these matters. There was nothing to 
prevent anyone who borrowed or otherwise got 
possession of his work from making copies of the 
manuscript if he chose, and making money from 
the copies if he could. " Copyright " was a word 
unknown in those days, and for centuries after. 
The booksellers advertised their wares by notices 
affixed to the door-posts of their shops, giving the 
names of new or desirable works, and sometimes 
read these works aloud to their friends and 
patrons. Their shops were favourite places of 
resort for persons of leisure and literary tastes. 

Copyists of books retained a high place in the 
order of things literary until the introduction of 
printing, and without their labours we should 
know nothing of ancient literature, seeing that no 
original manuscript of any classical author has 
survived. And apart from its purely literary value, 
which is variable, the work of the early mediaeval 
scribes in many instances reaches a high artistic 
standard, and exhibits marvellous skill in an 
accomplishment now numbered among the lost 
arts. 

On the subjects of libraries, as on all literary 
matters in ancient times, hardly any solid infor- 
mation is available. But we know that Egypt 
was to the fore in this respect as in so many 
others. Yet of all the collections of books which, 



28 THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

since they are frequently alluded to in the inscrip- 
tions, she undoubtedly possessed, stored in her 
kings' palaces and her temple archives, there is 
only one which is mentioned in history, and that 
by a single historian. According to Diodorus 
Siculus, this library was made by Osymandyas, 
who was king of Egypt at a date which has not 
been precisely determined. He tells us that its 
entrance exhibited the inscription : " Place of 
Healing for the Soul," or, as it has been variously 
rendered, " Balsam for the Soul," or, " Dispensary 
of the Mind." Although doubt has been thrown 
on the perfect accuracy of the historian in intro- 
ducing the name of Osymandyas in this connec- 
tion, modern Egyptologists have identified , the 
plan of the library with a hall of the great 
" palace temple " of Rameses II., the " Rame- 
sium " or " Memnonium " at Thebes. The door- 
jambs of this hall utter their own testimony to its 
ancient use, for they bear the figures of Thoth, 
the god of writing, and Saf, a goddess who is ac- 
companied by the titles u Lady of Letters" and 
" Presider over the Hall of Books." Astle, in 
The Origin and Progress of Writing, says that the 
books and colleges of Egypt were destroyed by 
the^ Persians, but Matter, on the other hand, in 
L' Ecole cTAlexandrie, declares that the temple 
archives were in existence in the Greek and 
Roman periods. Probably Astle's statement is 
not intended to be as sweeping as it appears. 

Babylonia and Assyria also had their libraries. 
According to Professor Sayce {The Higher Criti- 
cism and the Monuments) they were "filled with 
libraries, and the libraries with thousands of 
books." The royal library already referred to as 
furnishing so rich a treasure of cuneiform tablets, 



BOOKS AND LIBRARIES IN CLASSICAL TIMES. 29 

was begun by Sennacherib, who reigned 705-681 
B.C., and completed by Assur-bani-pal, who reigned 
about 668-626 B.C. 

There were libraries, too, in Palestine, in early 
days, but we know nothing of them. They may 
have been archives or places where records were 
kept, rather than libraries as we understand the 
term. The name of Kirjath-sepher, a city near 
Hebron, means " city of books," and survives from 
pre-Israelitish times. By the Jews, records and 
" the book of the law " were preserved in the 
temple. 

Almost as scanty are the accounts of the libra- 
ries of ancient Greece. The tyrant Pisistratus, 
537-527 B.C., has been credited, traditionally, with 
the establishment in Athens of the first public 
library, but although he encouraged letters and 
the preservation of literature there is no good 
reason for accepting the tradition as authentic. 

But of all libraries those of Alexandria were 
the largest and most celebrated, and yet, notwith- 
standing their eminence, the accounts relating to 
them are confused and contradictory. Alexandria, 
which, although situated in Egypt, was a Greek 
and not an Egyptian city, was founded by Alex- 
ander the Great in 332 B.C., and rapidly rose to a 
high position. Its buildings, its learning, its lux- 
ury, and its books, became world-famous. The 
first library was established by Ptolemy Soter, a 
ruler of literary tastes, about 300 B.C., and was 
situated in that part of the city known as the 
Bruchium. Copyists were employed to transcribe 
manuscripts for the benefit of the institution, and 
it is said that under Ptolemy Euergetes all books 
brought into Egypt were seized and sent to the 
library to be transcribed, The copies were re- 



30 THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

turned to the owners, whose wishes were evidently 
not consulted, in place of the originals, which 
went to enrich the store in the great library. 

Ptolemy Philadelphus is said to have supple- 
mented Soter's library by another, which was 
lodged in the Temple of Serapis, but it has been 
conjectured, with more probability, that the Sera- 
peum collection began with the temple archives, 
to which the Ptolemies made additions from time 
to time ; these additions, as some have affirmed, in- 
cluding part of Aristotle's library. But here, also, 
contradictions are encountered, and it seems im- 
possible to say exactly whether this statement re- 
fers to Aristotle's autograph writings, or to copies 
of them, or to manuscripts of other authors' works 
formerly in his possession. 

It was Ptolemy Philadelphus, we are told by 
Galen, who gave the Athenians fifteen talents, a 
great convoy of provisions, and exemption from 
tribute, in exchange for the autographs and origi- 
nals of the tragedies of yEschylus, Sophocles, and 
Euripides. 

Two other libraries also helped to make up the 
glory of Alexandria; one in the Sebasteum, or 
Temple of Augustus, and one in connection with 
the Museum. The latter, however, was a much 
later foundation. The museum or university itself 
had been instituted by Ptolemy Soter, and though 
it was quite distinct from the library which is asso- 
ciated with his name, there was doubtless some 
relationship between the two. Her museum and 
libraries, and the. encouragement she offered to 
learning, combined-" to set Alexandria at the head 
of the literary world, sand to make her " the first 
great seat of literary Hellenism " (Jebb). She 
was also the centre of the book industry, that is, 



BOOKS AND LIBRARIES IN CLASSICAL TIMES. 31 

of the reproduction of books, as distinguished 
from their first production. This was owing in a 
large measure to the number of professional copy- 
ists attracted by the facilities afforded to them, 
and to the fact that the papyrus trade had its 
headquarters here. 

Another famous library of this period was that 
of the Kings of Pergamus, founded by Attains L, 
who reigned from 241 to 197 B.C. Between Per- 
gamus and Alexandria there was vigorous com- 
petition. In the end, however, Alexandria had 
the satisfaction of seeing her rival completely 
humbled, for Antony presented the books of Per- 
gamus, stated to have been about two hundred 
thousand in number, to Cleopatra, who added 
them to Alexandria's treasures. At least, so says 
Plutarch, but Plutarch's authority for the state- 
ment was Calvisius, whose veracity was not above 
suspicion. 

How the enormous accumulation of manu- 
scripts gathered by Alexandria came to perish so 
utterly is not clear. The Romans accidentally 
fired the Bruchium when they reduced the city, 
but according to several accounts there were still 
a goodly number of books remaining at the time 
of the Saracen invasion in 638 a.d. The story of 
the Caliph Omar's reply to a plea for the preser- 
vation of the books is well known. " If they con- 
tain anything contrary to the word of God," he is 
reported to have said, " they are evil ; if not, they 
are superfluous," and forthwith he had them dis- 
tributed among the four, thousand baths of the 
city, which they provided with fuel for six months. 
But several authorities doubt this story, and assert 
that long before Omar's time the Alexandrian 
libraries had ceased to exist. 



32 THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

Though very far from being as full as could be 
wished, the accounts of libraries in Rome are 
more numerous than any relating to libraries in 
other parts of the ancient world. Besides the 
collections of books made by private persons, 
which in one or two instances were generously 
opened to the public by the owner, there were 
the imperial libraries, and the more strictly public 
libraries. Among the emperors whose names are 
especially associated with the gathering and 
preservation of books are Augustus, Tiberius and 
Trajan. Julius Csesar had formed a scheme for 
the establishment of a public library, but it is 
not clear whether it was ever carried out or no. 
Domitian, to replace the library in the Capitol, 
which had been destroyed, sent scholars abroad 
to collect manuscripts and to copy some of those 
at Alexandria. Under Constantine the Roman 
public libraries numbered twenty-nine, and were 
very frequently lodged in the temples. 

Last in point of date come the libraries of 
Byzantium, the city which the Emperor Con- 
stantine in 330 a.d. made the capital of the 
eastern portion of the empire, and named after 
himself. He at once began to gather books 
there, and his successors followed his example. 
Thus various libraries were established, and those 
which survived the fires which occurred from time 
to time in the city, existed until its capture by the 
Turks in 1452. On this occasion, and also after 
the assault by the Crusaders in 1203, the libraries 
probably suffered. It is said, too, by some that 
Leo III. wantonly destroyed a large number of 
books, but the assertion cannot be proved. Among 
the lost treasures of Constantinople was " the only 
authentic copy" of the proceedings of the Coun- 






BOOKS AND LIBRARIES IN CLASSICAL TIMES. 33 

cil of Nice, held in 325 a.d. to deal with the Arian 
heresy. 

The ultimate fate of the imperial library at 
Constantinople yet remains a problem. Some 
are of opinion that it was destroyed by Amurath 
IV., and that none but comparatively unimportant 
Arabic and other Oriental manuscripts make up 
the Sultan's library. Some believe that, in spite 
of repeated assertions to the contrary on the part 
of Turkish officials and others, there somewhere 
lies a secret hoard, neglected and uncared for, 
perhaps, but nevertheless existent, of ancient and 
valuable Greek manuscripts. The Seraglio has 
usually been considered to be the repository of 
this hoard, and access to the Seraglio is very 
difficult and almost impossible to obtain. In the 
year 1800 Professor Carlyle, during his travels in 
the East, took enormous pains and used every 
means in his power to reach the bottom of the 
mystery surrounding the Seraglio treasures. He 
was assured by every Turkish officer whom he 
consulted on the subject that no Greek manu- 
scripts existed there; and when by dint of influ- 
ence in high quarters and much patience and 
perseverance he at length gained permission to 
examine the Seraglio library, he found that it 
consisted chiefly of Arabic manuscripts, and con- 
tained not a single Greek, Latin, or Hebrew 
writing. The library, or such part of it as the 
Professor was shown, was approached through 
a mosque, and consisted of a small cruciform 
chamber, measuring only twelve yards at its 
greatest width. One arm of the cross served 
as an ante-chamber, and the other three con- 
tained the book-cases. The books were laid on 
their sides, one on the other, the ends outward. 



34 THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

Their titles were written on the edges of the- 
leaves. 

The result of the professor's researches went 
to confirm the belief held by so many that no 
Greek manuscripts had survived. On the other 
hand, the jealousy and suspicion of the Turks 
would render it at least possible that despite 
the apparent straightforwardness with which Mr. 
Carlyle was treated, there were stores of manu- 
scripts which were kept back from him. 

A final touch of mystery was given to this 
fascinating subject by a tradition concerning a 
certain building in Constantinople which had 
been closed up ever since the time of the Turkish 
conquest in the fifteenth century. Of the exist- 
ence of this building Professor Carlyle was cer- 
tain. The tradition asserted that it contained 
many of the former possessions of the Greek 
emperors, and among these possessions Professor 
Carlyle expected that the remains of the imperial 
library would be found, if such remains existed. 

Of other libraries of olden times, such as those 
of Antioch and Ephesus, or those in private pos- 
session in the country houses of Italy and Gaul, 
and which perished at the hands of the barbarians, 
it is not necessary to speak more fully. It is suf- 
ficient to point out that they existed, and that 
though we possess few details as to their furni- 
ture or arrangement, we are justified in conclud- 
ing that the latter, at any rate, were luxuriously 
appointed. It must not be inferred, however, that 
all the books which disappeared from these vari- 
ous centres were of necessity destroyed. Many, 
and particularly some of the Byzantine manu- 
scripts, were dispersed over Europe, and survive 
to enrich our libraries and museums of to-day. 



BOOKS IN MEDIAEVAL TIMES. 35 

CHAPTER IV. 

BOOKS IN MEDIEVAL TIMES. 

The books of the Middle Ages are a special 
subject in themselves, since they include all the 
illuminated manuscripts of Ireland, England and 
the Continent. We can therefore do little more 
than indicate their historical place in the story 
of books. 

We have only to look at a mediaeval illumi- 
nated manuscript to understand how books were 
regarded in those days, and with what lavish ex- 
penditure of time and skill the quaint characters 
were traced and the ornaments designed and exe- 
cuted. And having looked, we gather that books, 
being rare, were appreciated; and being sacred, 
were reverenced ; and that it was deemed a worthy 
thing to make a good book and to make it beauti- 
ful. Sometimes the monkish artist's handiwork 
had a result not foreseen by him, for we read that 
when St. Boniface, the Saxon missionary who 
gave his life to the conversion of Germany, wrote 
to ask the Abbess Eadburga for a missal, he de- 
sired that the colours might be gay and bright, 
"even as a glittering lamp and an illumination 
for the hearts of the Gentiles." It is easy to 
imagine how the brilliant pages would attract 
the colour-loving barbarians, and prepare the 
way for friendly advances. 

It is probable that the custom of ornamenting 
books with drawings was derived from the Egyp- 
tians by the Greeks, and from the Greeks by 
the Romans, among whom decorated books were 
common, although they are known to us chiefly 



3* 



THE STORY OF BOOKS. 



by means of copies preserved in Byzantine and 
Italian manuscripts of a more recent period. These, 
and a few examples dating from the time of Con- 







m* 




f':i X *t 







m 



Page from the Book of Kells (reduced). 

stantine, exhibit a style evidently derived from 
classical models. 

A survey of mediaeval books properly begins 
with the early Irish manuscripts, which stand at 



BOOKS I * MEDIEVAL TIMES. 



37 



the head of a lorg and glorious line stretching, 
chronologically, *rom the seventh century of our 
era to the fifteenth. Although it is not known 
where the art was born to which these wonderful 
productions of Celtic pen-craft owe their origin, 
it is Ireland, nevertheless, which has provided us 
with the earliest and finest examples of this work, 
the marvels of skill and beauty which, summed 
up, as it were, in the Book of Kells, the Book of 
Durrow, and others, set the Irish manuscripts 
beyond imitation or rivalry. 

Most of these books are Psalters, or Gospels, in 
Latin, while the remainder consist of missals and 
other religious compilations, and of them all the 
Book of Kells is the most famous. It was written 
in the seventh century, and probably indicates the 




Part of page from the Book of Kells (exact size). 



highest point of skill reached by the Irish artist- 
scribes, or as regards its own particular style of 
ornamentation, by any artist-scribes whatever. It 
is a book of the Gospels written (in Latin) on 
vellum, and the size of the volume, of the writing, 
and of the initial letters is unusually large. The 
leaves measure i-3iX9i inches. The illustrations 
represent various incidents in the life of Christ, 



38 THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

and portraits of the Evangelists, accompanied by 
formal designs. Ornamentatior is largely intro- 
duced into the text, and the first few words of each 
Gospel are so lavishly decorated and have initial 
letters of such size that in each case they occupy 
the whole of a page. 

The book just described was preserved at Kells 
until the early part of the seventeenth century. 
It then passed into Archbishop Ussher's posses- 
sion, and finally into the library of Trinity College, 
Dublin, where it is now treasured. 

Of course it is impossible to give here a repro- 
duction of a page of this marvellous book in its 
proper size and colours. Our illustrations, how- 
ever, may convey a little idea of the accuracy and 
minuteness of the work, which, it is hardly neces- 
sary to say, was done entirely by hand, and will 
serve as a text for a brief summary of the chief 
features of Irish book art. The design here shown 
is composed of a diagonal cross set in a rectangu- 
lar frame, having in each angle a symbol of one 
of the four Evangelists. The colours in this de- 
sign, as reproduced by Professor Westwood in his 
Miniatures and Ornaments of Anglo-Saxon and Irish 
Manuscripts, principally consist of red, dark and 
light mauve, green, yellow, and blue-grey. The 
animals depicted are quaint, but not ridiculous, 
and the figure of St. Matthew, in the upper angle 
of the cross, though stiff and ungraceful, is less 
peculiar than other figures in the book. The Irish 
artist was always more successful in designing 
and executing geometrical systems of ornamenta- 
tion than in representing living figures. 

The interlacing, which forms a large part of 
the design under consideration, is a characteristic 
of Celtic work. The regularity with which the 



BOOKS IN MEDI/EVAL TIMES. 39 

bands pass under and over, even in the most 
complicated patterns, is very remarkable, and 
errors are rarely to be detected. The spirals, 
which occupy the four panels at the ends and 
sides of the frame are also typical of this school 
of art. The firmness and accuracy of their draw- 
ing testify to the excellent eyesight as well as to 
the steady hand and technical skill of the artist. 

The prevailing feature of Celtic ornament as 
shown in illuminated manuscripts is the geomet- 
rical nature of the designs. The human figure 
when introduced into the native Irish books is 
absurdly grotesque, for its delineation seems to 
have been beyond the artist's skill, or, more cor- 
rectly, to have lain in another category, and to 
have belonged to a style distinct from that in 
which he excelled. At a later period, figure 
drawing became a marked characteristic of Eng- 
lish decorated manuscripts, and English artists 
attained to a high degree of skill in this branch 
of their art. 

Bright colours were employed in the Irish 
manuscripts, but gold and silver are conspicuous 
by their absence, and did not appear in the manu- 
scripts of these islands until Celtic art had been 
touched by continental influence. 

The tradition that the Book of Kells was writ- 
ten by the great St. Columba himself, reminds 
us that at this period nearly all books were the 
handiwork of monks and ecclesiastics, and in all 
monasteries the transcribing of the Scriptures 
and devotional works was part of the established 
order of things. Columba, we know, was a fa- 
mous scribe, and took great pleasure in copying 
books. He is said to have transcribed no less 
than three hundred volumes, and all books writ- 



40 THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

ten by him were believed to be miraculously pre- 
served from danger by water. As an instance of 
this, Adamnan relates the following story : — 

" A book of hymns for the office of every day 
in the week, and in the handwriting of St. Columba, 
having slipt, with the leathern satchel which con- 
tained it, from the shoulder of a boy who fell from 
a bridge, was immersed in a certain river in the 
province of the Lagenians (Leinster). This very 
book lay in the water from the Feast of the Na- 
tivity of our Lord till the end of the Paschal sea- 
son, and was afterwards found on the bank of the 
river " uninjured, and as clean and dry as if it had 
never been in the water at all. "And we have 
ascertained as undoubted truth," continues Adam- 
nan, " from those who were well informed in the 
matter, that the like things happened in several 
places with regard to books written by the hand 
of St. Columba;" and he adds that the account 
just given he received from "certain truthful, ex- 
cellent, and honourable men who saw the book 
itself, perfectly white and beautiful, after a sub- 
mersion of so many days, as we have stated." 

By Irish missionaries the art of book writing 
was taught to Britain, chiefly through the school 
of Lindisfarne, where was produced the famous 
Lindisfarne Gospels, or book of St. Cuthbert. 
This magnificent work, which is one of the 
choicest treasures of the British Museum, was 
as highly esteemed by its contemporaries as by 
ourselves, though perhaps not for quite the same 
reasons. Tradition has it that when Lindisfarne 
was threatened by the Northmen and the monks 
had to fly, they took with them the body of St. 
Cuthbert, in obedience to his dying behest, and 
this book. They attempted to seek refuge in 



BOOKS IN MEDIEVAL TIMES. 41 

Ireland, but their boat had scarcely reached the 
open sea when it met a storm so violent that 
through the pitching of the little vessel the book 
fell overboard. Sorrowfully they put back, but 
during the night St. Cuthbert appeared to one of 
the monks and ordered him to seek for the book 
in the sea. On beginning their search, they 
found that the tide had ebbed much further than 
it was wont to do, and going out about three 
miles they came upon the holy book, not a whit 
the worse for its misadventure. " By this," says 
the old historian, "were their hearts refreshed 
with much joy." And the book was afterwards 
named in the priory rolls as " the Book of St. 
Cuthbert, which fell into the sea." 

This notable volume is an excellent example 
of Celtic book art in the beginning of its transi- 
tion stage, a stage which marks the approach to 
the two schools which were the result of the 
combination of Celtic and continental influences 
in the hands of intelligent and skilful Anglo- 
Saxon scribes — the Hiberno-Saxon and the Eng- 
lish schools. It contains the four Gospels writ- 
ten in Latin, and arranged in double columns, 
each Gospel being preceded by a full-page formal 
design of Celtic work and a full-page portrait of 
the Evangelist. The conjunction of these two 
distinct styles of ornament forms one of the chief 
points of interest in the book. The formal de- 
signs of interlaced, spiral, and key patterns, so 
characteristic of Celtic work, show its near kin- 
ship to the Irish books, while the portraits prove 
an almost equally close connection with Roman 
and Byzantine models. There is reason to be- 
lieve that the classical element is due to the in- 
fluence of an Italian or Byzantine book or books 



42 



THE STORY OF BOOKS. 



brought to Lindisfarne by Theodore, Archbishop 
of Canterbury, and his friend Adrian, an Italian 
abbot, when the archbishop visited the island for 
the purpose of consecrating Aidan's church. 







1 ESI^MF^ 



% 






Pa,;e from the Lindisfarne Gospels (reduced). 

The Lindisfarne Gospels accompanied St. 
Cuthbert's body to Durham in 995, but rather 
more than a century later was restored to Lindis- 
farne, and remained there until the monastery 



BOOKS IN MEDIEVAL TIMES. 43 

which had replaced St. Aidan's foundation was 
dissolved at the Reformation. It is then lost 
sight of until it reappears in the famous Cotton 
Library, with which it is now possessed by the 
nation. 

The English school of illumination had its 
chief seat at Winchester. Its work is characterised 
by its figure drawing, and while the foliage orna- 
ment introduced, together with the gold which 
was largely used in the Winchester manuscripts, 
indicate continental influence, the interlaced and 
other patterns are derived from the Irish school. 
Of this class of manuscript the Benedictional of 
iEthelwold, in the Duke of Devonshire's library, 
may serve as a typical example. It was written 
for ^Ethelwold, Bishop of Winchester, by his 
chaplain Godemann, towards the end of the tenth 
century. Were it practicable to offer the reader 
a reproduction of one of its pages, it would be 
seen that it exactly illustrates what has just been 
said. Its figure drawing and foliated ornamenta- 
tion are among its most striking features. 

The Norman Conquest opened up the English 
school of art more widely to continental influence, 
with the result that towards the end of the thir- 
teenth and beginning of the fourteenth centuries 
the English manuscripts were unsurpassed by 
any in Europe. As a typical specimen of the 
illuminations of this period, we may with pro- 
priety select one which has been described by 
Sir Edward Maunde Thompson as " the very 
finest of its kind," and " probably unique in its 
combination of excellence of drawing, brilliance of 
illumination, and variety and extent of subjects." 
It is a Psalter dating from the fourteenth century, 
and known as Queen Mary's Psalter, because a 



44 THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

customs officer of the port of London, who inter- 
cepted it as it was about to be taken out of the 
country, presented it to the Queen in 1553. This 
magnificent book is now in the British Museum. 

During the twelfth and thirteenth centuries a 
large number of Bibles and Psalters were written, 
and made up the greater part of the book output 
of the larger monasteries, to which we are in- 
debted for all our fine pieces of manuscript 
work. Indeed, most of the decorated manu- 
scripts of this period are occupied with the 
Scriptures, services, liturgies, and other matters 
of the kind, and on such the best work was 
lavished. Later, however, the growing taste for 
romances and stories induced a corresponding 
tendency to decorate these secular manuscripts 
too, and some very fine work of this class was 
produced, especially in France. The books of 
the chronicles of England and of France, written 
in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, were also 
largely adorned with painted miniatures. 

Nearly all the writing of Europe was done in 
the religious houses. In most of the larger 
monasteries there was a scriptorium, or writing- 
room, where Bibles, Psalters, and service books, 
and patristic and classical writings were tran- 
scribed, chronicles and histories compiled, and 
beautiful specimens of the illuminator's art care- 
fully, skilfully, and lovingly executed. 

Books, however, were not only written in the 
monasteries, but read as well. The rule of St. 
Benedict insisted that the steady reading of books 
by the brethren should form part of the daily 
round. Archbishop Lanfranc, also, in his orders 
for the English Benedictines, directed that once 
a year books were to be distributed and borrowed 



BOOKS IN MEDIAEVAL TIMES. 45 

volumes to be restored. For this purpose, the 
librarian was to have a carpet laid down in the 
Chapter House, the monks were to assemble, 
and the names of those to whom books had been 
lent were to be read out. Each in turn had to 
answer to his name, and restore his book, and he 
who had neglected to avail himself of his privi- 
lege, and had left his book unread, was to fall on 
his face and implore forgiveness. Then the books' 
were re-distributed for study during the ensuing 
year. This custom was generally followed by all 
the monasteries of Lanfranc's time. 

Richard Aungervyle, Bishop of Durham, born 
in 1281 at Bury St. Edmund's, and therefore 
usually known as Richard de Bury, gives a 
vivacious picture of the attitude of a book-lover 
of the Middle Ages in his Philobiblon, or Lover of 
Books. He there sings the praises of books, and 
voices their lament over their ill-treatment by 
degenerate clerks and by the unlearned. He also 
tells how he gathered his library, which was then 
the largest and best in England. Philobiblon is 
written in vigorous and even violent language, 
and is worth quoting. 

Books, according to this extravagant eulogy, 
are " wells of living water," " golden urns in which 
manna is laid up, or rather, indeed, honeycombs," 
" the four-streamed river of Paradise, where the 
human mind is fed, and the arid intellect moistened 
and watered." "You, O Books, are the golden 
vessels of the temple, the arms of the clerical 
militia, with which the missiles of the most wicked 
are destroyed, fruitful olives, vines of Engedi, fig- 
trees knowing no sterility, burning lamps to be 
ever held in the hand." 

Then the books are made to utter their plaint 



46 THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

because of the indignity to which they are sub- 
jected by the degenerate clergy. " We are ex- 
pelled from the domiciles of the clergy, appor- 
tioned to us by hereditary right, in some interior 
chamber of which we had our peaceful cells; 
but, to their shame, in these nefarious times we 
are altogether banished to suffer opprobrium out 
of doors; our places, moreover, are occupied by 
hounds and hawks, and sometimes by a biped 
beast : woman, to wit . . . ; wherefore this beast, 
ever jealous of our studies, and at all times im- 
placable, spying us at last in a corner, protected 
only by the web of some long-deceased spider, 
drawing her forehead into wrinkles, laughs us to 
scorn, abuses us in virulent speeches, points us 
out as the only superfluous furniture in the house, 
complains that we are useless for any purpose 
of domestic economy whatever, and recommends 
our being bartered away forthwith for costly 
head dresses, cambric, silk, twice-dipped purple 
garments, woollen, linen, and furs." 

After this terrible picture of feminine igno- 
rance and malevolence, it is refreshing to turn to 
the achievements of the pious Diemudis, by way 
of contrast. Diemudis was a nun of Wessobrunn 
in Bavaria, who lived in the eleventh century. 
Nuns are not often referred to as writers, but of 
this lady it is recorded that she wrote "in a 
most beautiful and legible character " no less than 
thirty-one books, some of which were in two, 
three, and even six volumes. These she tran- 
scribed " to the praise of God, and of the holy 
apostles Peter and Paul, the patrons of this mon- 
astery." 

Although the greater part of the book-writing 
of this time was done in the monasteries and by 



BOOKS IN MEDIEVAL TIMES. 47 

monks and ecclesiastics, there were also secular 
professional writers, a class who had followed this 
occupation from very early days. They consisted 
of antiquarii, librarii, and illuminators, though 
sometimes the functions of all three were per- 
formed by one person. They were employed 
chiefly by the religious houses, to assist in the 
transcription and restoration of their books, and 
by the lawyers, for whom they transcribed legal 
documents. The antiquarii were the highest in 
rank, for their work did not consist merely of 
writing or copying, but included the restoration 
of faulty pages, the revision of texts, the repair 
of bindings, and other delicate tasks connected 
with the older and more valuable books which 
could not be entrusted to the librarii or common 
scribes. On the whole, the production of books 
was more of an industry in those days than we 
should believe possible, unless we admit that the 
Dark Ages were not quite as dark as they have 
been painted. " There was always about us in 
our halls," says Richard de Bury, who no doubt 
was a munificent patron of all scribes and book- 
workers, " no small assemblage of antiquaries, 
scribes, bookbinders, correctors, illuminators, and 
generally of all such persons as were qualified to 
labour in the service of books." 

Books of a great size were frequently monu- 
ments of patience and industry, and sometimes 
half a lifetime was devoted to a single volume. 
Books therefore fetched high prices, though they 
were not always paid for in money. In 11 74 the 
Prior of St. Swithun's, Winchester, gave the Canons 
of Dorchester in Oxfordshire, for Bede's Homilies 
and St. Augustine's Psalter, twelve measures of 
barley, and a pall on which was embroidered in 



48 THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

silver the history of St. Birinus' conversion of the 
Saxon King Cynegils. A hundred years later a 
Bible "fairly written," that is, finely written, was 
sold in this country for fifty marks, or about £33. 
At this period a sheep cost one shilling. In the 
time of Richard de Bury a common scribe earned 
a halfpenny a day. About 1380 some of the ex- 
penses attending the production of an Evangelia- 
rium, or book of the liturgical Gospels, included 
thirteen and fourpence for the writing, four and 
threepence for the illuminating, three and four- 
pence for the binding, and tenpence a day for 
eighteen weeks, in all fifteen shillings, for the 
writer's " commons," or food. 

The book-writers or copyists became, later, the 
booksellers, very much as they did in old Rome. 
Sometimes they both wrote and sold the books, 
and sometimes the sellers employed the writers to 
write for them, or the writers employed the sellers 
to sell for them. Publishers as yet did not exist. 
Practically the only method of publication known 
consisted of the reading of a work on three days 
in succession before the heads of the University, 
or other public judges, and the sanctioning of its 
transcription and reproduction. The booksellers 
were called " stationers," either because they 
transacted their business at open stalls or stations, 
or perhaps from the fact that statio is low Latin 
for shop ; and since they were also the vendors 
of parchment and other writing-materials, the 
word "stationer" is still used to designate those 
who carry on a similar trade to-day. As early 
as 1403 there was already formed in London a 
society or brotherhood " of the Craft of Writers 
of Text-letter," and " those -commonly called 
1 Limners,' " or Illuminators, for in that year they 



BOOKS IN MEDIAEVAL TIMES. 49 

petitioned'the Lord Mayor for permission to elect 
Wardens empowered to see that the trades were 
honourably pursued and to punish those of the 
craft who dealt disloyally or who rebelled against 
the Wardens' authority. This petition was granted. 
By 1501 the Company of Stationers was estab- 
lished, and it is highly probable that this was only 
the Brotherhood of Text-writers and Limners un- 
der the more general designation. 

The well-known names of Paternoster Row, 
Amen Corner, Ave Maria Lane, and Creed Lane 
still remain to show us where the London station- 
ers who sold the common religious leaflets and 
devotional books of the day had their stalls, close 
to St. Paul's Cathedral, and in some cases even 
against the walls of the Cathedral itself, and 
where, too, the makers of beads and paternosters 
plied their trade. And Londoners at least will 
not need to be reminded that at this very moment 
Paternoster Row is almost entirely inhabited by 
sellers of books, religious and otherwise. There 
is also a queer open-air stall on the south side 
which serves to carry on the ancient tradition of 
the place. 

Societies similar to that of the Text-Writers 
and Limners of London also existed on the Con- 
tinent, and especially at Bruges, in which city 
literature and book-production flourished under 
the patronage of Philippe le Bon, Duke of Bur- 
gundy, who himself gave constant employment to 
numerous writers, copyists, translators, and illu- 
minators in the work of building up his famous 
library. The members of the Guild of St. John 
the Evangelist in Bruges represented no less than 
fifteen different trades or professions connected 
with books and writing. They included: 



50 THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

Booksellers, 

Printsellers, 

Painters of vignettes, 

Painters, 

Scriveners and copiers of books, 

Schoolmasters and schoolmistresses, 

Illuminators, 

Printers, 

Bookbinders, 

Curriers, 

Cloth shearers, 

Parchment and vellum makers, 

Boss carvers, 

Letter engravers, 

Figure engravers. 
Of course, the printers here mentioned would 
at first be block-printers only, as will be shown 
presently. And it is worth noticing that in all 
this long list, which cannot be called at ail ex- 
clusive, there is no mention of authors. 

The mediaeval booksellers were not all per- 
mitted to ply their trade in their own way. Since 
the supply of books for the students depended 
on them, the Universities of Paris, Oxford, and 
elsewhere deemed it their duty to keep them 
under control, having in view the maintenance 
of pure texts and the interests of the students, at 
whose expense the booksellers were not to be 
permitted to fatten. By the rules of the Uni- 
versity of Paris the bookseller was required to 
be a man of wide learning and high character, 
and to bind himself to observe the laws regard- 
ing books laid down by the University. He 
was forbidden to offer any transcript for sale 1 
until it had been examined and found correct;! 
and were any inaccuracy detected in it by the! 



BOOKS IN MEDIEVAL TIMES. 51 

examiner, he was liable to a fine or the burning 
of the book, according to the magnitude of his 
error. The price of books was also fixed by the 
University, and the vendor forbidden to make 
more than a certain rate of profit on each volume. 
Again, the bookseller could not purchase any 
books without the sanction of the University, for 
fear that he might be the means of disseminating 
heretical or immoral literature. Later, it was 
made obligatory on him to lend out books on 
hire to those who could not afford to buy them, 
and to expose in his shop a list of these books 
and the charges at which they were to be had. 
The poor booksellers, thus hedged about with 
restrictions, often joined some other occupation 
to that of selling manuscripts in order to make 
both ends meet, but when this practice came to 
the notice of the University they were censured 
for degrading their noble profession by mixing 
with it " vile trades." But presumably no such 
rules as the above hampered the booksellers of 
non-university towns, such as London. 

The control assumed by the Universities over 
the book trade presently extended to interference 
with original writings and a censorship of litera- 
ture. With the introduction of printing and the 
consequent increase of books and of the facilities 
for reproducing them this censorship was taken 
up by the Church. 

Ecclesiastical censorship, however, was not the 
outcome of the Universities' assumption of con- 
trol over the book trade. It sprang from the 
jealousy of the clergy, who opposed the spread 
of knowledge among the people — some, perhaps, 
because they knew that knowledge in ignorant 
hands is dangerous, and others because they 



52 THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

feared their own prestige might suffer. This 
feeling existed before printing, though printing 
brought it to a head. For instance, in 1415 the 
penalty in this country for reading the Scriptures 
in the vernacular was forfeiture of land, cattle, 
body, life, and goods by the offenders and their 
heirs for ever, and that they should be con- 
demned for heretics to God, enemies to the Crown, 
and most errant traitors to the land. They were 
refused right of sanctuary, and if they persisted 
in the offence or relapsed after a pardon were 
first to be hanged for treason against the King 
and then burned for heresy against God. Thus 
the clergy upheld and encouraged a censorship 
of the press. As early as 1479 Conrad de Hom- 
borch, a Cologne printer, had issued a Bible 
accompanied by canons, etc., which was "allowed 
and approved by the University of Cologne," 
and in i486 the Archbishop of Mentz issued a 
mandate forbidding the translation into the vulgar 
tongue of Greek, Latin, and other books, with- 
out the previous approbation of the University. 
Finally, in 15 15, a bull of Leo X. required Bishops 
and Inquisitors to examine all books before they 
came to be printed, and to suppress any heretical 
matter. 

The Vicar of Croydon, preaching at St. Paul's 
Cross about the time of the spread of the art of 
printing, is said to have declared that " we must 
root out printing or printing will root out us." 
But an ecclesiastical censorship over the English 
press was not established until 1559, when an 
Injunction issued by Queen Elizabeth provides 
that, because of the publication of unfruitful, vain, 
and infamous books and papers, "no manner of 
person shall print any manner of boke or paper 



LIBRARIES IN MEDIAEVAL TIMES. 53 

. . . except the same be first licenced by her 
maiestie . . . or by .vi. of her privy counsel, or 
be perused and licensed by the archbysshops of 
Cantorbury and Yorke, the bishop of London," 
etc. The Injunction extended also to " pam- 
pheletes, playes, and balletes," so that " nothinge 
therein should be either heretical, sedicious, or 
vnsemely for Christian eares." Classical authors, 
however, and works hitherto commonly received 
in universities and schools were not touched by 
the Injunction. 



CHAPTER V. 

LIBRARIES IN MEDIEVAL TIMES. 

During the rule of the Arabs in Northern 
Africa and in Spain, thousands of manuscripts 
were gathered together in their chief cities, such 
as Cairo and Cordova, and many Arabic-Spanish 
and Moorish writings have been preserved in the 
Escurial Library, though a large part of this 
library was burnt in 1671. With these excep- 
tions, the collections of books belonging to the 
various religious houses were practically the only 
libraries of early mediaeval times. These collec- 
tions, to begin with, were very small; so small, 
indeed, that there was no need to set apart a 
special room for them. Library buildings were 
not erected till the fourteenth or fifteenth cen- 
turies, when the accumulation of books rendered 
them necessary, and those which are found in 
connection with old foundations will always prove 
to have been added later. It is said, however, 



54 THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

that Gozbert, abbot of St. Gall in the ninth 
century, who founded the library there by collect- 
ing what was then the large number of four 
hundred books, allotted them a special room 
over the scriptorium. But as a rule the books 
were kept in the church, and then, as the number 
increased, in the cloisters. The cloister was the 
common living-room of the monks, where they 
read and studied, and carried out most of their 
daily duties. The books were either stored in 
presses, though no such press remains to show 
us upon what pattern they were built, or in re- 
cesses in the wall, probably closed by doors. 
Two of these recesses may be seen in the 
cloisters at Worcester. In Cistercian houses, 
says Mr. J. W. Clark, to whose Rede Lecture 
(1894) I am indebted for these details, this 
recess developed "into a small square room with- 
out a window, and but little larger than an ordi- 
nary cupboard. In the plans of Clairvaux and 
Kirkstall this room is placed between the chapter- 
house and the transept of the church ; and similar 
rooms, in similar situations, have been found at 
Fountains, Beaulieu, Tintern, Netley, etc." The 
books were placed on shelves round the walls. 
When the cloister windows came to be glazed, so 
as to afford better protection from the weather 
for the persons and things within the cloister, 
they were occasionally decorated with allusions 
to the authors of the books in the adjacent 
presses. 

Sometimes carrells were set up in the cloister, 
a carrell being a sort of pew, in which study 
could be conducted with more privacy than in 
the open cloister. The carrell was placed so that 
it was closed at one end by one of the cloister 



LIBRARIES IN MEDIAEVAL TIMES. 55 

windows and remained open at the other. Ex- 
amples still survive at Gloucester. 

The arrangement of the libraries which were 
subsequently added to most of the larger monas- 
teries in the fifteenth century is unknown, as 
none of the furniture or fittings seem to have 
come down to the present day either in this 
country or in France or Italy. But Mr. Clark 
thinks that the collegiate libraries will give us 
the key to the plan of the monastic libraries, 
since the rules relating to the libraries of Oxford 
and Cambridge were framed on those which 
obtained in the " book-houses " of the religious 
foundations. From these collegiate libraries we 
gather that it was customary to chain the books, 
so that they might be accessible to all and yet 
secure from those who might wish to appropriate 
them temporarily or otherwise. The shelf to 
which the volumes were fastened took the form 
of an " elongated lectern or desk," at which the 
reader might sit. Pembroke College and Queen's 
College, Cambridge, had desks of this type, which 
was also in use on the Continent. In some places 
the desks were modified by the addition of shelves 
above or below. 

Mr. Falconer Madan, in his Books in Manu- 
script, quotes the following account, which h-e 
translates from the Latin register of Titchfield 
Abbey, written at the end of the fourteenth cen- 
tury, and which shows the care and method with 
which the books were kept : " The arrangement 
of the library of the monastery of Tychefeld is 
this: — There are in the library of Tychefield four 
cases (colmnnoz) in which to place books, of which 
two, the first and second, are in the eastern 
face ; on the southern face is the third, and on 



56 THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

the northern face the fourth. And each of them 
has eight shelves (gradus), marked with a letter 
and number affixed on the front of each shelf. 
... So all and singular the volumes of the said 
library are fully marked on the first leaf and else- 
where on the shelf belonging to the book, with 
certain numbered letters. And in order that 
what is in the library may be more quickly found, 
the marking of the shelves of the said library, 
the inscriptions in the books, and the reference in 
the register, in all points agree with each other. 
Anno domini, MCCCC." Then is shown the 
order in which the books lie on the shelves. 
Briefly, the sequence of subjects and books is as 
follows: — Bibles, Bibles with commentary, the- 
ology, lives of saints, sermons, canon law, com- 
mentaries on canon law, civil law, medicine, arts, 
grammar, miscellaneous volumes, logic and phi- 
losophy, English law, eighteen French volume 
and a hundred and two liturgical volumes. Tit 
field Abbey owned altogether over a thous 
volumes. 

The monastic librarian, as we should call s 
was known as the armarius, since he had ch» n 
of the armaria or book-presses. He freque. ^s 
united this office to that of precentor or leader ot 
the choir, for at first the service-books were his 
chief care. It was his business to make the cata- 
logue, to examine the volumes from time to time 
to see that mould or book-worms or other dangers 
were not threatening them, to give out books for 
transcription, and to distribute the various writing- 
materials used in the scriptorium or wri "n ~*~ 
He had also to collate such works as were *~erc 
to follow one text, such as Bibles, missals, '» . ^b : 
tic rules, etc. To these duties he often added 



LIBRARIES IN MEDIAEVAL TIMES. 57 

that of secretary to the abbot and to the monas- 
tery generally. 

Many catalogues of monastic libraries are ex- 
tant, and several belonging to continental foun- 
dations were compiled at a very early period. 
Of the library of St. Gall, founded by the Abbe 
Gozbert in 816, a contemporary catalogue still 
exists. The St. Gall library contained four hun- 
dred volumes, a large number for those days, 
and, moreover, was provided with a special room, 
a chamber over the scriptorium. It is not easy 
to see why in this and other cases of the co- 
existence of a library and a scriptorium one 
room was not made to do duty for both. But 
to return to the catalogues. Another early ex- 
ample is that of the Abbey of Clugni, in France, 
made in 831, and forming part of an inventory of 
the Abbey property. The Benedictine Abbey of 
^^ichenau, on the Rhine, had four catalogues 
)< npiled in the ninth century — two of the books 
arf} Ke library, one of certain transcriptions made 
added thereto, and one of additions to the 
angary from other sources. Among English 
byo'.astic book-lists, there is one of Whitby 
;ey, which appears to have been made in 1 180, 
and the library of Glastonbury Abbey, which ex- 
cited the wonder and admiration of Leland, and 
which was started by St. Dunstan round a nucleus 
of a few books formerly brought to the Abbey 
by Irish missionaries, was catalogued in 1247 or 
1248. Catalogues of the books at Canterbury 
(Christ Church and St. Augustine's monastery), 
r Jgh, Durham, Leicester, Ramsey, and 
r\v/ )undations are also known, and these, with 
Cut ;! aces of Leland, form our only sources of in- 
formation as to these various literary store-houses. 



58 THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

As regards their contents, the Scriptures, 
missals, service-books, and similar manuscripts 
formed the larger part of the monastic libraries, 
but besides these they included copies of patristic 
and classical works, devotional and moral writings, 
lives of saints, chronicles, books on medicine, 
grammar, philosophy, logic, and, later, romances 
and fiction were admitted into this somewhat 
austere company. The catalogue of the " boc- 
house" of the monastery of St. Augustine at 
Canterbury, written towards the close of the 
fifteenth century, names many romantic works, 
including the Four Sons of Aymon, Guy of War- 
wick, The Book of Lancelot, The Story of the Graa/, 
Sir Perceval de Galois, The Seven Sages ^ and oth- 
ers, and of some of these there is more than one 
copy. 

Books were frequently lent to other mon- 
asteries, or to poor clerks and students. It was 
considered a sacred duty thus to share the bene- 
fits of the books with others ; but sometimes the 
custodians of the precious volumes, aware of the 
failures of memory to which book-borrowers hav^ 
ever been peculiarly liable, were so averse froi, 
running the risk of lending that the libraru 
were placed under anathema, and could not be 
lent under pain of excommunication. But the 
selfishness and injustice of such a practice being 
recognised, it was formally condemned by the 
Council of Paris in 12 12, and the anathemas 
annulled. Anathemas were also pronounced 
against any who should steal or otherwise alien- 
ate a book from its lawful owners. 

But as even in mediaeval days there v 
those who loved books better than honesty, the 
loan of a volume was accompanied by legal 



LIBRARIES IN MEDIAEVAL TIMES. 59 

forms and ceremonies, and the borrower, what- 
ever his station or character, had to sign a bond 
for the due return of the work, and often to 
deposit security as well. Thus, when about 1225 
the Dean of York presented several Bibles for 
the use of the students of Oxford, he did so 
on condition that those who used them should 
deposit a cautionary pledge. Again, in 1299, 
John de Pontissara, Bishop of Winchester, bor- 
rowed from the convent of St. Swithun the 
Bibliam bene glossatum, i. e. the Bible with anno- 
tations, and gave a bond for its return. " And in 
147 1, when books had become much more com- 
mon, no less a person than the King of France, 
desiring to borrow some Arabian medical works 
from the Faculty of Medicine at Paris, had not 
only to deposit some costly plate as security, but 
to find a nobleman to act as surety with him for 
the return of the books, under pain of a heavy 
forfeit. 

Many of the great monastic libraries owed 
their origin to the liberality of one donor, usually 
an ecclesiastic. Among other libraries destroyed 
by the Danes was the fine collection of books at 
Wearmouth monastery, made by Benedict Biscop, 
.he first English book collector, who was so eager 
in the cause of books that he is said to have made 
no less than five journeys to Rome in order to 
search for them. Part of his library was given 
to the Abbey at Jarrow, and shared the same fate 
as the books at Wearmouth. 

One of the earliest English libraries w T as that 
of Christ Church, i. e. the Cathedral, at Canter- 
bury. On the authority of the Canterbury Book, 
a fifteenth century manuscript preserved at Cam- 
bridge, this library began with the nine books 



60 THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

said to have been brought from Rome by St. 
Augustine. These nine books were a Bible in 
two volumes, a Psalter, a Book of Gospels, the 
Lives of the Apostles, the Lives of the Martyrs, 
and an Exposition of the Gospels and Epistles. 
This collection was enriched by the magnificent 
scriptural and classical volumes brought from 
the continent by Archbishop Theodore in the 
seventh century. Under Archbishop Chicheley, 
in the fifteenth century, this library was provided 
with a dwelling of its own, built over the Prior's 
Chapel, and containing sixteen bookcases of four 
shelves each. At this time a catalogue was al- 
ready m existence, made by Prior Eastry at the 
end of the thirteenth or beginning of the four- 
teenth century, and records about three thousand 
volumes. 

The monastery of St. Mary's at York owned 
a library which was founded by Archbishop 
Egbert. Egbert's pupil Alcuin, whom Charle- 
magne charged with the care of the educational 
interests of his empire, soon after taking up his 
residence at St. Martin's at Tours, desired the 
emperor to send to Britain for " those books 
which we so much need ; thus transplanting into 
France the flowers of Britain, that the garden of 
Paradise may not be confined to York, but may 
send some of its scions to Tours." 

Richard de Bury, the famous old book col- 
lector or bibliomaniac to whom reference has 
already been made, bequeathed his books, which 
outnumbered all other collections in this country, 
to the University of Oxford, where they were 
housed in Durham College, which he had en- 
dowed. He has left an interesting account of 
how he gathered his treasures, which may fitly be 



LIBRARIES IN MEDIEVAL TIMES. 6 1 

quoted here. Aided by royal favour, he tells us, 
" we acquired a most ample facility of visiting at 
pleasure and of hunting as it were some of the 
most delightful coverts, the public and private 
libraries both of the regulars and the seculars. 
. . . Then the cabinets of the most notable 
monasteries were opened, cases were unlocked, 
caskets were unclasped, and astonished volumes 
which had slumbered for long ages in their 
sepulchres were roused up, and those that lay 
hid in dark places were overwhelmed with a new 
light. . . . Thus the sacred vessels of science 
came into the power of our disposal, some being 
given, some sold, and not a few lent for a time." 
The embassies with which he was charged by 
Edward III. gave him opportunity for hunting 
continental coverts also. u What a rush of the 
flood of pleasure rejoiced our hearts as often as 
we visited Paris, the paradise of the world ! . . . 
There, in very deed, with an open treasury and 
untied purse-strings, we scattered money with a 
light heart, and redeemed inestimable books with 
dirt and dust." Richard de Bury also furthered 
his collection by making friends of the mendicant 
friars, and "allured them with the most familiar 
affability into a devotion to his person, and hav- 
ing allured, cherished them for the love of God 
with munificent liberality." The affability and 
liberality of the good bishop attained their object, 
and the devoted friars went about everywhere, 
searching and finding, and whenever he visited 
them, placed the treasures of their houses at his 
disposal. Although the mendicant orders were 
originally forbidden property of any kind, this 
rule was afterwards greatly relaxed, especially as 
regards books, and in Richard de Bury's time the 



62 THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

friars had amassed large libraries and were well- 
known as keen collectors. 

In France it was not an uncommon practice 
for a monastery to levy a tax on its members 
or its dependent houses for the increase of its 
library, and in several houses it was customary for 
a novice to present writing materials at his entry 
and a book at the conclusion of his novitiate. As 
early as the close of the eleventh century March- 
wart, Abbot of Corvey in North Germany, made 
it a rule that every novice on making his profes- 
sion should add a book to the library. 

The monastic libraries met their doom at the 
time of the Reformation and of the suppression 
of the religious houses. Nearly all the books at 
Oxford, including the gifts of Richard de Bury, 
were burnt by the mob, and under Elizabeth the 
royal commissioners ordered the destruction of all 
" capes, vestments, albes, missals, books, crosses, 
and such other idolatrous and superstitious monu- 
ments whatsoever." Since those who ought to 
have been more enlightened classed missals and 
books among idolatrous and superstitious monu- 
ments, it is not to be wondered at that the igno- 
rant and undiscriminating mob should glory in 
their wanton destruction. Books that escaped 
the fire or the fury of the mob were put to various 
uses as waste paper. They were employed for 
" scouring candlesticks and cleaning boots," for 
the wrapping up of the wares of " grocers and 
soap-sellers," and were exported by shiploads for 
the use of continental bookbinders. On the con- 
tinent, too, fire, wars, plunder, and suppression 
dispersed or destroyed many of the monastic col- 
lections. 

A comparatively recent instance of book de- 



LIBRARIES IN MEDIAEVAL TIMES. 63 

struction caused by the fury of the rabble is af- 
forded by the great losses undergone by Bristol 
Cathedral library in the riots which took place in 
connection with the passing of the Reform Bill. 
The palace was set on fire, and the library, which 
was lodged in the Chapter-house, was brought 
out and most of the volumes hurled into the 
flames. Others were thrown into the river, into 
ditches, and about the streets, and although 
about eleven hundred were subsequently recov- 
ered from second-hand clothes dealers and marine 
stores, only two copies and one set remained 
intact. 

As a natural consequence of the revival of 
learning in the fourteenth century, private libra- 
ries began to increase in size and in number, and 
the collection of books was no longer left to 
monks and priests. King John of France gath- 
ered a little library, some say of only twenty vol- 
umes, which laid the foundation of the great Royal 
Library, now the Bibliotheque Nationale. These 
he bequeathed to his son, Charles V., who in- 
creased the number to nine hundred, for his known 
fondness for books and reading obtained for him 
presentation volumes from many of his subjects. 
His books included works of devotion, astrology, 
medicine, law, history, and romance, with a few 
classical authors. Most of them were finely writ- 
ten on vellum, and sumptuously bound in jewelled 
and gold-bedecked covers. They were lodged in 
three rooms in the Louvre, in a tower called " La 
Tour de la libraire." These rooms had wainscots 
of Irish'[bog ?] oak, and ceilings of cypress " curi- 
ously carved." According to Henault, the library 
of the Louvre was sent to England by the Duke 
of Bedford while Regent of France, and only a 



64 THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

few volumes afterwards found their way back to 
Paris. 

One of the finest libraries of this period was 
possessed by Philippe le Bon, Duke of Burgundy. 
It contained nearly two thousand volumes, mostly 
magnificent folios clothed in silk and satin, and 
ornamented with gold and precious stones. Books 
were now the fashion, the fashionable posses- 
sions, the fashionable gifts, among those who were 
wealthy enough to afford them. Louis de Bruges, 
Seigneur de la Gruthyse, was another famous 
collector, whose books were no less splendid in 
their size, beauty, and costliness, than those of the 
Duke of Burgundy. His collection was after- 
wards added to the Royal Library, and some of 
its treasures still exist in the Bibliotheque Na- 
tionale. 

The rich and cultured of Italy were also busily 
collecting books and forming libraries. A library 
was made by Cardinal Bessarion at a cost of 
thirty thousand sequins, and afterwards became 
the property of the church of St. Mark at Venice. 
Venice already possessed a small collection of 
books given to it by Petrarch, but the gift was so 
little thought of that it lay neglected in the 
Palazzo Molina until some of the volumes had 
crumbled to powder, and others had petrified, as 
it were, through the damp. 

Of English collectors of this period Richard de 
Bury was the most famous. As has already been 
stated, he possessed the largest number of books 
in the country, and these he bequeathed to the 
University of Oxford. The Aungervyle Library, 
as it was called, was destroyed at the Reforma- 
tion. Guy de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, also 
had a very fine collection. He preferred romances, 



LIBRARIES IN MEDIEVAL TIMES. 65 

however, to theology or law, and his library con- 
tained many such works. At his death he be- 
queathed it to the Abbey of Bordesley, in Worces- 
tershire. 

The English kings had not as yet paid much 
attention to books. Eleven are mentioned in the 
wardrobe accounts as belonging to Edward I., 
and not until the time of Henry VII. was any 
serious consideration given to the formation of 
the Royal Library. 

Among the more famous continental book 
collectors of a later period were Matthias Cor- 
vinus, King of Hungary, and Frederick, Duke of 
Urbino. The library of the King of Hungary 
perhaps excelled all others in its size and splen- 
dour. It is said to have contained nearly fifty 
thousand volumes, but only a comparatively 
small number survived the barbarous attack of 
the Turks, who stole the jewels from the bindings 
and destroyed the books themselves. The Duke 
of Urbino's library was scarcely less magnificent, 
and was distinguished by its completeness. All 
obtainable works were represented, and no im- 
perfect copies admitted. The duke had thirty- 
four transcribers in his service. 

After the monastic libraries had been de- 
stroyed, and when old ideas were beginning to 
give place to new, the restrictions formerly 
placed on the reading of the Scriptures by the 
people at large were withdrawn. In an Injunc- 
tion, dated 1559, Elizabeth ordered that the peo- 
ple were to be exhorted to read the Bible, not 
discouraged, and she directed the clergy to pro- 
vide at the parish expense a book of the whole 
Bible in English within three months, and within 
twelve months a copy of Erasmus' Paraphrases 
5 



66 THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

upon the Gospels, also in English. These books 
were to be set up in the church for the use and 
reading of the parishioners. The chain is not 
mentioned in the Injunction, but was probably 
adopted as a matter of course. Chained books 
in churches thus became common, and besides 
the Bible, very generally included copies of 
Fox's Book of Martyrs and Jewel's Apology for the 
Church of England. The chained books at St. 
Luke's, Chelsea, consist of a Vinegar Bible, a 
Prayer Book, the Homilies, and two copies of 
the Book of Martyrs. 

The custom of chaining books, as we have 
seen, was followed in the college libraries, and 
obtained also in church libraries in England and 
on the continent. Among the still existing libra- 
ries whose books are thus secured are those of 
Hereford Cathedral and Wimborne Minster in 
England, and the church of St. Wallberg at Zut- 
phen, in Holland. The last, however, was not 
always chained, and thereby hangs a tale. Once 
upon a time the Devil, having a spite against the 
good books of which it was composed, despoiled 
it of some of its best volumes. The mark of his 
cloven hoof upon the nagged floor gave the clue 
to the identity of the thief, whereupon the cus- 
todians of the books had them secured by chains 
sprinkled with holy water, by which means the 
malice of the Evil One was made of none effect. 



THE BEGINNING OF PRINTING. 67 

CHAPTER VI. 

THE BEGINNING OF PRINTING. 

The germs of the invention which, in spite 
of Carlyle's somewhat slighting reference, has 
proved itself hardly less momentous in the 
world's history than the conception of the idea 
of writing, are to be found in the stamps with 
which the ancients impressed patterns or names 
upon vases or other objects, or in the device and 
name-bearing seals which were in common use 
among the nations of antiquity. But these 
stamps and seals could be used only to impress 
some plastic material, not to make ink or other 
marks upon paper; and for the first example of 
printing, as we understand the word, we must 
look to China, where, it is said, as early as the 
sixth century, a.d., engraved wooden plates were 
used for the production of books. The Chinese, 
however, kept their invention to themselves, or 
at anyrate it spread no further than Japan, until 
many years later; and although in the tenth cen- 
tury the knowledge of printing was carried as far 
as Egypt, Europeans seem to have made the dis- 
covery for themselves, quite independently of 
help from the East, both as regards block-print- 
ing and the use of moveable type. 

In Europe, as in China, the first printing was 
done by means of a block, that is, a slab of wood 
on which the design was carved in relief, and 
from which, when inked, an impression could be 
transferred to paper or other material. This 
process is known as block-printing, and in 
Europe was principally used for the production 



6S THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

of illustrations, the text, which came to be added 
later, being accessory and subordinate to the 
picture, 

The first European block-prints are pictures 
of saints, roughly printed on a leaf of paper and 
usually rudely coloured. Heinecken, whose Idee 
general (Tune Collection complette a Estampes ( 1 77 1) 
is still a standard work, is of opinion that pic- 
tures of this class were first executed by the old 
makers of playing-cards, and that the playing- 
cards themselves were printed from wood and 
not drawn separately by hand. In this case the 
cards should rank as the earliest examples of 
block-printing or wood-engraving. Heinecken 
has not been alone in entertaining this opinion, 
but, on the other hand, there are some who con- 
sider that the portraits represent the first wood- 
cuts, and that the early playing-cards were drawn 
and painted by hand. 

The single-leaf portraits of saints were pro- 
duced chiefly, or perhaps solely, in Germany, and 
examples are now rare. It is curious that most 
of those which have survived to the present day 
have been found in German religious houses, 
pasted inside the covers of old books, and thus 
shielded from the destruction to which their 
fragile nature rendered them liable. One speci- 
men, which has the reputation of being the earliest 
extant with which a date can be connected, is the 
well-known St. Christopher, which represents the 
saint carrying the child Christ over a stream, 
after an old legend. This specimen bears the 
date 1423, and was discovered pasted in the cover 
of a mediaeval manuscript in the monastery at 
Buxheim, in Swabia, and is now in the John 
Rylands Library at Manchester. The date, how- 



THE BEGINNING OF PRINTING. 69 

ever, may be only that of the engraving of the 
block, and not the year of printing. A theory 
was put forward by Mr. H. F. Holt, at the meet- 
ing of the British Archaeological Association in 
1868, that this St. Christopher, so far from being 
the earliest known specimen of printing of any 
sort, belonged to a period subsequent to the in- 
vention of typography, and that the date 1423 
refers only to the jubilee year of the saint, and 
not to the execution of the print. He also held 
that the block-books, to which we refer below, 
were not the predecessors of type-printed books, 
as they are usually considered to be, but merely 
cheap substitutes for the costly works of the 
early printers. But these theories, though not 
disproved, do not receive the support of bibliog- 
raphers in general. 

Another early woodcut is the Brussels Print, 
which is in the Royal Library at Brussels. It is 
ostensibly dated 1418, but although this date is 
accepted by some, it has most probably been 
tampered with, and therefore the position of the 
print is at least doubtful. It is of Flemish origin, 
and represents the Virgin and Child, accom- 
panied by SS. Barbara, Catharine, Veronica, and 
Margaret. Other prints exist which are not 
dated, and it is quite possible that some of these 
may be older than the St. Christopher, though 
no definite statements as to their date can be 
made. It is certain, however, that the art of 
block-printing was known in the closing years of 
the fourteenth century, and that it was practised 
thenceforward until about 15 10, that is, some 
years after the invention of typography. In 
many manuscripts of the period, printed illustra- 
tions were inserted by means of blocks, either to 



70 THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

save time, or because the scribe's skill did not 
extend to drawings. 

These early woodcuts were the forerunners of 
the better known block-books, which also, accord- 
ing to Heinecken, were at first the work of the 
card-makers. Block-books consisted of prints ac- 
companied by a descriptive or explanatory text, 
both text and illustration being printed from the 
same block. Since they were intended for the 
moral instruction of those whose education did 
not fit them for the study of more elaborate 
works, they generally deal with Scriptural and 
religious subjects. The earliest of all the block- 
books was the Biblia Pauperum, or " Bible of 
the Poor," so called because it was designed for 
the edification of persons of unlearned minds and 
light purses, who could neither have afforded 
the high prices demanded for ordinary manuscript 
copies, nor have read such copies had they 
owned them. The Biblia Pauperum, however, 
exactly met their want. It is not so much a 
book to read, as a book to look at. It has a 
text, it is true, but the text is subordinate to the 
pictures. 

The Biblia Paiperum is on paper, as paper was 
cheaper than vellum and considered quite good 
enough for the purpose. One side only of each 
leaf was printed, two pages being printed from 
one block, and the sheets folded once and ar- 
ranged in sequence, not "quired" or " nested." 
The resulting order was that of two printed pages 
face to face, followed by two blank pages face to 
face. The illustrations are of scenes from sacred 
history, and portraits of Biblical personages, 
accompanied by explanatory Latin or German 
texts in Gothic characters. The original designer 



THE BEGINNING OF PRINTING. 71 

and compiler of this favourite block-book is un- 
known, but he certainly worked on lines laid 
down by some much older author and artist, for 
manuscript works of similar nature existed at 
least as early as the beginning of the fourteenth 
century. The earliest known instance of a com- 
position of the kind, however, is a series of 
enamels on an antependium or altar-frontal in 
the St. Leopold Chapel at Klosterneuberg, near 
Vienna, which originally contained forty-five pic- 
tures dealing with Biblical subjects, arranged in 
the same order as in the Biblia Pauper urn y and 
which were executed by Nicolas de Verdun, in 
ii8t. Some attribute the inception of the Biblia 
Pauperum to Ansgarius, first Bishop of Hamburg, 
in the ninth century, others to Wernher, a German 
monk of the twelfth century, but it seems un- 
likely that the point will ever be decided. The 
Biblia Pauperum is usually supposed to have 
been first printed xylographically in Holland, 
and type-printed editions were issued later from 
Bamberg, Paris, and Vienna. 

To modern eyes the illustrations of this book 
are strange and wonderful indeed. " The de- 
signer certainly had no thought of irreverence," 
says De Vinne, "but many of the designs are 
really ludicrous. Some of the anachronisms are : 
Gideon arrayed in plate-armour, with mediaeval 
helmet and visor and Turkish scimitar; David 
and Solomon in rakish, wide-brimmed hats, bear- 
ing high, conical crowns; the translation of 
Elijah in a four-wheeled vehicle resembling the 
modern farmer's hay-wagon. Slouched hats, 
puffed doublets, light legged breeches and pointed 
shoes are seen in the apparel of the Israelites 
who are not represented as priests or soldiers. 



72 



THE STORY OF BOOKS. 



Some houses have Italian towers and some have 
Moorish minarets, but in none of the pictures is 






Has fna mhttibiTlnff nl * sff 
nt\itp &m&tfuUb3f^rorirn(Ki 
f»£t onnufWfl uortr VfnnHrfJ 




fijpr.'. Vjjpj3cr^3 aaT&ih 
Dpftvcm nnb? ai'rb^rv' 
b9uomb?Brttei yrttfru 
gjyuir Cn^rrrm-p.iuanS 
'joufi»quiji?hT3b»e5& i , 

pP rmv a ire ■* faiuktf ei 



Page from the Biblia Pauperum (second edition). 



there an exhibition of pointed Gothic architec- 
ture." 

Our illustration gives a reduced representation 
of a page from the second edition of the Biblia 



THE BEGINNING OF PRINTING. 73 

Pauperum, dating from about 1450. The middle 
panel shows Christ rising from the tomb, and the 
wonder and fear of the Roman guards ; the left- 
hand panel shows Samson carrying off the gates 
of the city of Gaza, and the right-hand panel the 
disgorging of Jonah by the whale. The upper 
part of the text shows how that Samson and 
Jonah were types of Christ, and the four little 
figures represent David, Jacob, Hosea, and Si- 
phonias (Zephaniah), the texts on the scrolls 
being quotations from their words. 

The accompanying rhymes are as follows : 

Obsessus turbis : Sapson valvas tulit urbis. 
Quem saxum texit : ingens tumulum Jesus exit. 
De tumulo Christe : surgens te denotat iste. 

(In the midst of crowds, Samson removes the gates of the 
city. The anointed Jesus, whom the stone covered, rises from 
the tomb. This man [Jonah] rising from the tomb, denotes 
Thee, O Christ !) 

Another very popular block-book, of German 
origin, was the curious compilation known as Ars 
Moriendi — the Art of Dying — or, as it is some- 
times called, Temptationes Demonis, or Temptation 
of Demons. It describes how dying persons are 
beset by all manner of temptations, the final tri- 
umph of the good, and the sad end of the wicked, 
with suitable emotions on the part of the attend- 
ant angels, and the hideous demons by which 
the temptations are personified. This work was 
greatly in vogue in the fifteenth century, and 
after the invention of type-printing was repro- 
duced in various parts of France, Italy, Germany, 
and Holland. 

The only block-book without illustrations was 
the Donatus de octibus partibus orationis, or Donatus 



74 THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

on the Eight Parts of Speech, shortly known as 
Donatus. It was the Latin grammar of the period, 
and was the work of Donatus, a famous Roman 
grammarian of the fourth century. Large num- 
bers were printed both from blocks and from 
type, but xylographic fragments are scarce, and 
none are known of any date before the second half 
of the fifteenth century. Yet it is believed that 
probably more copies of this work were printed 
than of any other block-book whatever. Besides 
its lack of illustrations, the xylographic Donatus 
is unique among block-books from the fact that 
it was printed on vellum and not on paper, and 
(another unusual feature) on both sides of the 
leaf. Vellum was dear, and had to be made the 
most of, and no doubt was used only because a 
paper book would have fared badly at the hands 
of the schoolboys. 

Only one block-book is known to have been 
printed in France, and that is Les Nenf Preux, 
or the Nine Champions. The nine champions 
are divided into three groups : first, classical 
heroes — Hector, Alexander, and Julius Caesar; 
next, Biblical heroes — Joshua, David, and Judas 
Maccabseus ; and lastly, heroes of romance — 
Arthur, Charlemagne, and Godefroi of Boulogne. 
The portraits of these celebrities are accompanied 
by verses. This block-book dates from about 

!455- 

Other block-books were the Speculum Humancc 
Salvationist the Apocalypse of St. John, the Book of 
Canticles, Defensorium Inviolatce Virginitatis Beatce 
Marioe Virginis, Mirabilia Romce\ various Ger- 
man almanacks, and a Planetenbuch, this last rep- 
resenting the heavenly bodies and their influence 
on human life. The last of the block-books, so 



THE BEGINNING OF PRINTING. 75 

far as is known, was the Opera nova contemplatively 
which was executed at Venice about 15 10. 

From one point of view the Speculum Humance 
Salvationist or Mirror of Salvation, is the most 
curious of its kind. It is looked upon as the 
connecting link between block-books proper and 
type-printed books. Its purpose seems to have 
been to afford instruction in the facts and lessons 
of the Christian religion, beginning with the fall 
of Satan. It is founded on an old and once 
popular manuscript work sometimes ascribed to 
Brother John, a Benedictine Monk of the thir- 
teenth or fourteenth century. Four so-called 
" editions" of the ^/m/teareknown, two of which 
are in Latin rhyme, and two in Dutch prose, all 
four having many points in common and stand- 
ing apart from the later and dated editions after- 
wards produced in Germany, Holland, and 
France. 

In these early copies the body of the work 
consists of a text printed from moveable types, 
with a block-printed illustration at the head of 
each page. But one of the Latin editions is re- 
markable for having twenty pages of the text 
printed from wood-blocks. How and why these 
xylographic pages appear in a book whose re- 
maining forty-two pages are printed from types 
is a mystery. They are inserted at intervals 
among the other leaves, and for this and other 
reasons it is considered improbable that they 
were printed from blocks originally intended for 
a block-book, to help to eke out a not very 
plentiful stock of type. Moreover, no entirely 
xylographic Speculum exists to lend colour to such 
a theory. 

The time and place of origin of the Speculum 



76 THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

are unknown, and bibliographers are not agreed 
as to the order in which the several "editions" 
appeared. But such evidence as exists points to 
Holland as the home of the printed Speculum, 
and those who believe that Coster of Haarlem 
invented typography, credit him with having pro- 
duced it. 

Block-books are nearly all of German, Dutch, 
or Flemish workmanship. As a rule the illus- 
trations are roughly coloured by hand. The 
method by which they were printed is generally 
supposed to have been that of laying a dampened 
sheet of paper on the inked block, and rubbing 
it with a dabber or frotton until the impression 
was worked up. But De Vinne, in his History of 
Printing, says that there are practical reasons 
against the correctness of this view, and considers 
it more probable that a rude hand-press was 
used. 

Those who wish to see some modern examples 
of block-printing may be referred to the books 
printed by the late William Morris at the cele- 
brated Kelmscott Press at Hammersmith. The 
title-pages and initial words of these volumes 
were executed by means of wood-blocks, and are 
as beautiful examples of block-printing as the 
texts of the works they adorn are of typography. 
All the Kelmscott printing, whose history, though 
most interesting, is nevertheless outside the pres- 
ent subject, was done by hand-presses. 



WHO INVENTED MOVEABLE TYPES? 77 

CHAPTER VII. 

WHO INVENTED MOVEABLE TYPES ? 

The wood-block, however, was merely a step- 
ping-stone to the greatest of all events in the 
history of printing, the invention of moveable 
types; that is, of letters formed separately, which, 
after being grouped into words, and sentences, and 
paragraphs, could be redistributed and used again 
for all sorts of books. Here once more our 
Chinese friends were ahead of the rest of the 
world, for, more than four centuries before Ger- 
man printers existed, Picheng, a Chinese smith, 
had shown his countrymen how to print from 
moveable types made of burnt clay. But the pro- 
cess which was to prove of such untold value to 
those who employed the simple Roman alphabet 
was almost useless to the Chinese, since the im- 
mense number of their characters rendered the 
older method the less tedious and cumbersome of 
the two. In China and Japan, therefore, the use 
of moveable types was of short duration. In 
Europe, however, when the art of printing from 
moveable types once became known, the case was 
very different. 

Once upon a time, as a magnate of the city 
of Haarlem was walking in a wood near the city, 
he idly cut some letters on the bark of a beech 
tree. It then suddenly occurred to him that 
these letters might be impressed upon paper ; 
whereupon he made some impressions of them 
for the amusement of his grandchildren. This, 
we have learned from our youth up, is how the 
art of printing came to be discovered. But un- 



78 THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

fortunately, this legend is not to be relied upon. 
As a matter of fact, the first inventor of printing 
is unknown, and even as regards moveable types 
it is impossible to say with absolute certainty 
when or by whom the idea was first conceived. 
Daunon, in his Analyse des Opinions diverses sur 
Vorigine de V Imprimerie, tells us that no less than 
fifteen towns claim to be the birthplace of print- 
ing, and that a still larger number of persons 
have been put forward as its inventors, from 
Saturn, Job, and Charlemagne downw T ards. The 
arguments for or against the pretensions of 
Saturn, Job, and Charlemagne, and, indeed, of the 
majority of the personages whose names have 
been mentioned in this connection, do not call 
for notice. For although the first printer is not 
known, many believe that they can point him out 
with tolerable certainty, and in the fierce battle 
which has raged round the question of the iden- 
tity of the inventor of moveable types, two names 
alone have been used as the respective war-cries 
of the opposing armies. One is Johann Guten- 
berg of Mentz, and the other, Laurenz Coster of 
Haarlem. 

Although the balance of opinion is now, and 
always has been, in favour of Gutenberg, the 
battle has been long and furious. The diligence 
of the disputants in collecting data in support 
of their theories has been equalled only by the 
vigour and ferocity with which some of their 
number have maintained their opinions. Each 
side has charged the other with forging evidence, 
and ink and abuse have been freely poured out 
in the cause of typographical truth. Yet though 
sought for during several centuries, no conclusive 
proof has been discovered by either side; typo- 



WHO INVENTED MOVEABLE TYPES? 79 

graphical truth remains in her well, and the 
identity of the inventor of moveable types seems 
almost as hard to determine as that of the man 
in the iron mask or the writer of the letters of 
Junius. The partisans of Coster have been as 
eminent and as able as those of Gutenberg, and 
thus the unlearned enquirer finds it difficult to 
declare for one rather than the other, without 
investigating for himself all the ins and outs of 
this involved subject. Even then, without some 
previous bias in one or the other direction, he 
would probably find himself halting between two 
opinions. Such an investigation is obviously out 
of the question here, and even were it practicable 
it could hardly be hoped that where so many 
doctors disagree our modest effort would produce 
any valuable result. We shall therefore do no 
more than briefly set forth some of the chief 
arguments on either side as fairly as may be, but 
without attempting an exhaustive examination of 
the evidence, first, however, declaring ourselves 
as followers of the majority and partisans of 
Gutenberg, by way of sheet anchor. 

Those who advocate the claims of Holland 
against Germany largely base their belief on the 
existence of various printed books and fragments 
of Dutch origin, undated, and affording no clue 
to the time and place at which they were printed, 
or to their printer, whether Coster or another. 
It is much more likely, they say, that these were 
the first rude attempts at typography, and that 
they gave the idea to the Mentz printers, who 
forthwith improved upon it, than that the Mentz 
printers should have given the idea to the Dutch, 
who, so far from improving upon it, produced 
these clumsy imitations of fine German work. 



8o THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

And Mr. Hessels, who made a complete examina- 
tion of the evidence in favour of Gutenberg, was 
unable to say either that Gutenberg invented 
type-printing, or that he did not invent it. On 
the other hand, "it is certainly possible," say the 
writers of the Guide to the British Museum, " that 
actual printing may have been previously executed 
in Holland; although, to our minds, the im- 
probability of the printers who are asserted to 
have produced Donatus and the Speculum from 
moveable types ten years before Gutenberg having 
produced nothing but the like kind of work for 
nearly twenty years after him outweighs all the 
arguments which have been advanced in support 
of their claim. It is at all events certain that, 
without some very direct and positive evidence 
on the other side, mankind will continue to regard 
Gutenberg as the parent of the art, and Mainz as 
its birthplace." 

Within recent years a claim for the honour of 
the invention has been put forward on behalf of 
quite another part of the world. Some early fif- 
teenth century documents discovered in Avignon 
make unmistakable references to printing, and 
not to zylography, and from them we learn that 
Procopius Waldfoghel, a silversmith of Prague, 
was engaged in printing at Avignon in 1444, and 
had undertaken to cut a set of Hebrew, types 
for a Jew whom he had previously instructed in 
the art of printing. No specimens of his work 
are known, and it is therefore impossible to say 
exactly to what process these records refer, but 
it has been conjectured that it may have been 
some method of stamping letters from cut type, 
and not from cast type by means of a press. 

Since Coster is the hero of the well-known 



WHO INVENTED MOVEABLE TYPES? 8 1 

story quoted above, and since as regards our 
present purpose there is less to be said of him 
than of Gutenberg, we will briefly recapitulate 
what is known about him, and the foundations 
on which his fame as a typographer rests, before 
dealing more at length with Gutenberg and the 
Mentz press. 

It does not seem easy to account for the 
existence of what the partisans of Gutenberg 
contemptuously term the Coster legend. It has 
been conjectured, somewhat plausibly, that 
Haarlem's jealousy of the superiority and fame 
of Mentz and its printers began very early, and 
arose from the narrow vanity of those Haarlem- 
ers who imagined that the first printing press in 
Haarlem must necessarily be the first printing 
press in the world. However this may be, the 
legend arose, and waxed strong, and many be- 
lieved in it. 

Laurenz Janssoen, or Coster, was born in 
Haarlem about 1370. He is said to have held 
various high offices, such as sheriff, treasurer, 
officer of the city guard, and especially that of 
Coster to the great church of Haarlem. Coster 
means sacristan or sexton, but the position was 
one of far greater honour than is now associated 
with it. But another account, which is supported 
by all the available records, represents him as a 
tallow-chandler, and subsequently as an inn- 
keeper, and if he had anything at all to do with 
the great church, it was only that he supplied it 
with candles. But whether chandler or coster, 
nothing is heard of him as a printer until 1568, 
more than a hundred years after his alleged suc- 
cess in printing from types — in itself a strange 
fact, since if Coster were the inventor, why were 
6 



82 THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

the Mentz printers allowed to appropriate all the 
credit to themselves, unchallenged by Coster's 
kinsfolk or countrymen, and supported by the 
opinions of sixty-two writers, including Caxton, 
the chronicler Fabian, Trithemius, and the com- 
pilers of the Cologne and Nuremberg chronicles? 
It is true that " few sometimes may know when 
thousands err," but silence is no proof of truth, 
and if Coster's representatives possessed the 
truth, how came they to withhold it from a 
deluded world ? 

Although Coster is not named till 1568, the 
claims of Haarlem to be the birthplace of print- 
ing had been put forward (for the first time) 
some years earlier by Jan Van Zuyren in a work 
on the Invention of Typography, of which only a 
fragment remains. The claims of Haarlem, he 
says, " are at this day fresh in the remembrance 
of our fathers, to whom, so to express myseif, 
they have been transmitted from hand to hand 
from their ancestors." Thus, though probably 
writing in all good faith, Van Zuyren bases his 
statements on nothing better than tradition. 
" The city of Mentz," he goes on to say, " without 
doubt merits great praise for having been the 
first to publish to the world, in a becoming garb, 
an invention which she received from us, for 
having perfected and embellished an art as yet 
rude and imperfect. . . . It is certain that the 
foundations of this splendid art were laid in our 
city of Haarlem, rudely, indeed, but still the 
first." 

Coornhert, an engraver, and a partner of Van 
Zuyren, repeats the same statements, and on the 
same basis, in the preface to a translation of 
Cic'ero which he published in 1561, but is acute 



WHO INVENTED MOVEABLE TYPES ? 83 

enough to see that the case for Haarlem is nearly 
hopeless. " I am aware," he says, " that in con- 
sequence of the blameable neglect of our an- 
cestors, the common opinion that this art was 
invented at Mentz is now firmly established, that 
it is in vain to hope to change it, even by the 
best evidence and the most irrefragable proof." 
He proceeds to declare his conviction of the 
justice of Haarlem's claim, because of " the faith- 
ful testimonies of men alike respectable from 
their age and authority, who not only have often 
told me of the family of the inventor, and of his 
name and surname, but have even described to 
me the rude manner of printing first used, and 
pointed out to me with their fingers the abode of 
the first printer. And therefore, not because I 
am jealous of the glory of others, but because I 
love truth, and desire to pay all tribute to the 
honour of our city which is justly her due, I have 
thought it incumbent upon me to mention these 
things." .Yet it is strange that he did not think 
it incumbent upon him to mention the name and 
surname of the inventor, since he had been told 
them so often. 

Hadrian Junius, said to have been the most 
learned man in Holland after Erasmus, is the first 
to give to the world the fully-developed legend 
of Coster. This he does in his Batavia, which 
was finished in 1568 and published posthumously 
twenty years later. It is he who first mentions 
Coster by name, and gives the story of the walk 
in the woods. He relates how Coster devised 
block-printing, and calling in the help of his son- 
in-law, Thomas Peter, produced the block book 
Speculum Humana Salvationist and then advanced 
to types of wood, then to types of lead, and finally 



84 THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

to types of lead and tin combined. Prospering 
in his new art, he engaged numerous workmen, 
one of whom, probably named Johann Faust, as 
soon as he had mastered the process of printing 
and of casting type, stole his master's types and 
other apparatus one Christmas Eve, and fled to 
Amsterdam, thence to Cologne, and finally to 
Mentz. For all this Junius also adduces no 
better authority than hearsay, but nevertheless 
it is his statements which have brought Coster to 
the front and given him such reputation as he 
now enjoys. 

No books bearing Coster's name are known, 
though this in itself is no argument against him, 
for the name of Gutenberg himself is not found 
in any of his own productions. It is not only 
highly improbable that Coster was the first 
printer, but also doubtful whether he printed 
anything at all. But those who think otherwise 
consider that the idea of printing occurred to 
him about 1428 or 1430, and that he executed, 
among other books, the Biblia Pauperum, the 
Speculum, the Ars Moriendi, and Donatus. 

The people of Holland still retain their faith 
in Coster. Statues have been erected, medals 
struck, tablets put up, and holidays observed in 
his honour. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

GUTENBERG AND THE MENTZ PRESS. 

Johann or Hans Gutenberg was born at 
Mentz in or about the year 1400. His father's 
name was Gensfleisch, but he is always known 



GUTENBERG AND THE MENTZ PRESS. 85 

by his mother's maiden name of Gutenberg or 
Gutemberg. It was customary in Germany at 
that time for a son to assume his mother's name 
if it happened that she had no other kinsman 
to carry it on. Of Gutenberg's early life, of his 
education or profession, we know nothing. But 
we know that his family, with many of their 
fellow-citizens, left Mentz when Gutenberg was 
about twenty years of age, on account of the 
disturbed state of the city. They probably went 
to Strasburg, but this is uncertain. In 1430 
Gutenberg's name appears among others in an 
amnesty, granted to such of the Mentz citizens 
as had left the city, by the Elector Conrad III., 
but apparently he continued to live in Strasburg. 
Two years later he visited Mentz, probably about 
a pension granted by the magistrates to his wid- 
owed mother. This is practically all that is known 
of the earlier part of Gutenberg's life. 

It is curious that nearly all the recorded in- 
formation concerning Gutenberg is in connection 
either with lawsuits or with the raising of money. 
From the contracts for borrowing or repaying 
money into which he entered, we gather that he 
was always hard pressed, and that his invention 
ran away with a good deal of gold and paid back 
none. Gutenberg cast his bread on the waters, 
and it is we who have found it. 

The first known event of his life which directly 
concerns our subject is a lawsuit brought against 
him by Georg Dritzehn. Mr. Hessels implies, 
though he does not actually state, that he sus- 
pects the authenticity of the records of this trial. 
But no proof of their falsity can be adduced, and 
the integrity of the documents otherwise remains 
unquestioned. They cannot now, however, be 



86 THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

subjected to further examination, for they were 
burnt in 1870 at the time of the siege of Strasburg. 

The action in question was brought against 
Gutenberg in 1439 by Georg Dritzehn, the 
brother of one Andres Dritzehn, deceased, for 
the restitution of certain rights which he con- 
sidered due to himself as his brother's heir. 
From the testimony of the witnesses as set 
down in the records of the trial, we gather that 
Gutenberg had entered into partnership with 
Hans Riffe, Andres Dritzehn, and Andres Heil- 
mann ; and one of the witnesses deposed that 
Dritzehn, on his death-bed, asserted that Guten- 
berg had concealed " several arts from them, 
which he was not obliged to show them." This 
did not please them, so they made a fresh ar- 
rangement with Gutenberg and further payments 
into the exchequer, to the end that Gutenberg 
" should conceal from them none of the arts 
he knew." 

Again, Lorentz Beildeck testified that after 
Andres Dritzehn's death Gutenberg sent him 
to Claus, Andres' brother, to tell him " that he 
should not show to anyone the press which he had 
under his care," but that "he should take great 
care and go to the press and open this by means 
of two little buttons whereby the pieces would 
fall asunder. He should, thereupon, put those 
pieces in or on the press, after which nobody 
could see or comprehend anything." 

Besides this, Hans Niger von Bischoviszheim 
said that Andres Dritzehn applied to him for 
a loan, and when witness asked him his occupa- 
tion, answered that he was a maker of looking- 
glasses. Later on, a pilgrimage " to Aix-la- 
Chapelle about the looking-glasses " is mentioned. 



GUTENBERG AND THE MENTZ PRESS. 87 

By these records, from Mr. Hessels' translation 
of which the above quotations are taken, two 
things at least are made clear. First, that 
Gutenberg was in possession of the knowledge 
of an art unknown to his companions, which he 
was desirous of keeping to himself, and which 
those not in the secret wished to learn ; and 
secondly, that a press containing some important 
and mysterious " pieces," which was not to be 
exhibited to outsiders until the pieces had been 
separated, played a prominent part in this secret 
work. The " looking-glasses," apparently, were 
imaginary, and intended for the misleading of too 
curious enquirers. But it has been ingeniously 
suggested that the word Spiegel, or looking-glass, 
was a cryptic reference to the Spiegel onser 
Behoudenisse, or Mirror of Salvation, and that 
Gutenberg and his assistants were engaged in 
preparing the printed Speculum for sale at the 
forthcoming fair held on the occasion of the pil- 
grimages to Aix-la-Chapelle in 1439. This part 
of his plan, however, was frustrated by the post- 
ponement of the fair for a year. 

It is hardly to be doubted that the researches 
privately conducted in the deserted convent of 
St. Arbogastus, where Gutenberg dwelt, con- 
cerned the great invention usually linked with 
his name. Were this probability an absolute 
certainty, then Strasburg might successfully dis- 
pute with Mentz the title of birthplace of the art 
of printing. But to what stage Gutenberg carried 
his labours in the old convent, or how far he pro- 
ceeded towards the goal of his ambition, is not 
known, though it has been conjectured that 
possibly he and those in his confidence got as 
far as the making of matrices for types, and that 



88 THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

perhaps even the types used for the earliest 
extant specimens of type-printing were cast there, 
although not used until Gutenberg had returned 
to Mentz. On the other hand, there are many 
who think that matrices and punches are due to 
the ingenuity of Peter Schoeffer, to whom refer- 
ence is made below. 

When Gutenberg left Strasburg for Mentz is 
not known, but he was in the latter city in 1448, 
as is testified by a deed relating to a loan which 
he had raised. His constant pecuniary difficulties 
resulted in his entering into partnership, in 1450, 
with the goldsmith Johann Fust, or Faust, a rich 
burgher of Mentz, who contributed large loans 
towards the working expenses, and was evidently 
to share in the profits of the press. Fust or 
Faust, the printer of Mentz, has sometimes been 
identified with the Faust of German legend. 
The dealings in the black art related of the one 
have also been ascribed to the other by various 
story-tellers, some of whom say that in Paris 
Faust the printer narrowly escaped being burnt 
as a wizard for selling books which looked like 
manuscripts, and yet were not manuscripts. The 
first printed letters, it should be observed, were 
exactly copied from the manuscript letters then 
in vogue. 

The first really definite recorded event in the 
history of Gutenberg's printing was a lawsuit 
brought against him by Fust, in 1455, when 
Gutenberg had to give an account of the receipts 
and expenditure relating to his work, and to hand 
over to Fust all his apparatus in discharge of his 
debt. The partnership was of course dissolved, 
Gutenberg left Mentz, and Fust continued the 
printing assisted by Peter Schoeffer. Schoeffer 



GUTENBERG AND THE MENTZ PRESS. 89 

was a servant of Fust's, who had further asso- 
ciated himself with the establishment by marrying 
Fust's daughter, and to him some attribute the 
improvement of the methods then employed by 
devising matrices and punches for casting metal 
types. It has even been suggested that this device 
of his, communicated to Fust, induced the latter to 
rid himself of Gutenberg by demanding repay- 
ment of his advances when Gutenberg was unable 
to meet the call, and that having gained posses- 
sion of his partner's apparatus, he was able, with 
the help of Schoeffer and his inventions, to carry 
on the work to his own profit and glory. But it is 
difficult to know whether to look upon Fust as a 
grasping and treacherous money-lender, or as a 
prudent and enterprising man of business. How- 
ever this may be, at the time of the lawsuit the 
work of years was already perfected, printing 
with moveable types was now an accomplished 
thing, and the great Mazarin Bible, if not fin- 
ished, was at any rate on the point of comple- 
tion. 

The earliest extant specimens of printing from 
types, however, are assigned to the year 1454. 
These are some Letters of Indulgence issued by 
Pope Nicholas V. to the supporters of the King 
of Cyprus in his war with the Turks. They con- 
sist of single sheets of vellum, printed on one side 
only, and measuring c. 11X7 inches. They fall 
into two classes, of each of which there were vari- 
ous issues; that is to say, (1) those containing 
thirty lines, and (2) those containing thirty-one 
lines. The thirty-line Indulgence is printed partly 
in the type used for the Mazarin Bible. The 
thirty-one-line Indulgence is partly printed in 
type which is the same as that used for books 



90 THE STORY OF EOOKS. 

printed by Albrecht Pfister at Bamberg, and for 
a Bible which disputes with the Mazarin Bible the 
position of the first printed book. Who printed 
these Indulgences is not certainly known. Both 
emanated from the Mentz press, and it is not un- 
reasonable to believe that both were executed by 






A tUUC CI 10 €nfUmtUb)jiim, 
lieg 16 €ppti in Ijac part c £><i\ m \ ■ 
tm'/fertcoiditer rcpaticS €Ctv® jj#-d 
ipos jj flfefionc fangufodm tin ibf 

fate f idci f regit i pdicH He faniltaf 
riitf tit^^fffo^e^d^tie f€fi|Iar€S t 
tvhmmih) atq| delicti quatucuq* * 
builitiv pttkttt i po& a qtu&ufcuq^ 4 
lioft ^ttitiff otio quib) foifoft imio 
cicets Wte p?m't?rib) ^ofVifie-uii 
i fuon df qui% oie 3 faff* * cosde ot? 

Type of the Mentz Indulgence (30-line, exact sLc). 

Gutenberg, since the Mazarin Bible is most prob- 
ably his work, and since the types used by Pfister 
were perhaps at one time possessed by Gutenberg. 
Still, the point is not clear, and the more general 
view is that they were the work of two different 
printers. Some attribute the thirty-line Indul- 
gence to Schoeffer, on the ground that some of 
its initial letters are reproduced in an Indulgence 



GUTENBERG AND THE MENTZ PRESS. 91 

of 1489 known to be of Schoeffer's workmanship. 
Yet there seems no reason why Schoeffer in 1489 
should not have made use of Gutenberg's types — 
indeed, it is very probable that he had every 
chance of doing so, as may be seen from the above 
account of the dissolution of partnership between 
Gutenberg and Fust. 

Those who assign the thirty-line specimen to 
Schoeffer consider the thirty-one line specimen to 
be Gutenberg's work. "And though we have no 
proof of this," says Mr. E. Gordon Duff, who 
holds this view, "or indeed of Gutenberg's hav- 
ing printed any book at all, there is a strong 
weight of circumstantial evidence in his favour." 
It may be taken for granted, then, although proof 
is wanting, that Gutenberg printed at least one 
of these Indulgences, and perhaps both. In any 
case, these are the first productions of the print- 
ing-press to which a definite date can be assigned. 
Some of them have a printed date, and in other 
copies the date has been inserted in manuscript. 
The earliest specimens of each class belong to the 
year 1454. 

The next production of the Mentz press, as is 
generally believed, is the beautiful volume known 
as the Gutenberg Bible, or the Mazarin Bible, 
because it was a copy in the library of Cardinal 
Mazarin which first attracted attention and led 
bibliographers to enquire into its history. It 
illustrates a most remarkable fact — that is, the 
extraordinary degree of perfection to which the 
art of printing attained all but simultaneously 
with its birth. Even though we cannot tell how 
long Gutenberg experimented before producing 
this book, it is none the less amazing that as a 
specimen of typographic art the Mazarin Bible 



g 2 THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

has never been excelled even by the cleverest 
printers and the most modern and elaborate ap- 
paratus. It was probably not begun before 1450, 
the year when Gutenberg and Fust joined forces, 
and was completed certainly not later than 1456. 
This latter date is fixed by a colophon written 
in the second volume of the copy in the Biblio- 
theque Nationale at Paris, which informs us that 
" this book was illuminated, bound, and per- 
fected by Heinrich Cremer, vicar of the collegi- 
ate church of St. Stephen in Mentz, on the 
Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, 
in the year of our Lord 1456. Thanks be to 
God. Hallelujah." A similar note is affixed to 
the first volume. 

It is believed by competent authorities that 
this and all very early printed books were printed 
one page at a time, owing to an inadequate 
supply of type, a process exceedingly slow and 
productive of numerous small variations in the 
text. The work of printing the Mazarin Bible 
was in all probability interrupted to allow of the 
execution of the more immediately needed Letters 
of Indulgence, in certain parts of which, as we 
have said, some of the types used in the Mazarin 
Bible are employed. 

We must not omit to mention here another 
Bible issued from Mentz about this time. It 
has thirty-six lines to a column, and is there- 
fore known as the thirty-six line Bible, in dis- 
tinction to the forty-two line or Mazarin Bible. 
It exhibits a larger type, and is regarded by 
some as the first book printed at the Mentz 
press, and, for all that can be proved to the 
contrary, it is so. Although the point is still 
undecided, this volume may at any rate be safe- 



GUTENBERG AND THE MENTZ PRESS. 



93 



ly regarded as contemporary with the Mazarin 
Bible. 

The Mazarin Bible is in Latin, and printed in 



3 



V 



or rjfbmsnolunrintoaD&itu noire* 

ru rqur urrp qd Due pun\vhura c^ra^ 

amome &urntajrat»diwm;:qu!fmr 

plinture ftnocrio a frptuegiiua infer* 

n ptcnbuonoOiTcmoat.ijfrftgofruo 

] n bie rt ftuoiofo cuirp fcufle me fneno 

ijj no amatrjo mulcoe rocequiuri muw 

jtf'Dia ud fjiprmlio raaltat conrrmnrct 

V/R more pridara ijuam Oifrrretct or 

turbirimto magie riuo quant Or pu* 

i^cifitiaa text poxac?^r^int n:ab(je 

sTf s^ : C*Wj^tuo tur qin no 
llpggj Jirffibijt in rrjuiio im* 

JiMg^pf anmirti no thru : 

Pggsi Jipt in cadjtara pa* 

^^^^led£ no leun^f m 

. . ItttaotiuBnmlrgr 

ciue ramitabifoit ac notte^ft mi 

': tamnj ligrra quoD platatum emtxue 

i Jmuriiie aquaru : qo" foutu fuu tabic 

\\m rjifuQ.^ t tolm due no teflutt : ? 

Umnia qurcucp fader prriprabihur, 

lT|on he imptj no fie : &0 tatuf, pul 

' ■ in 'd que pcoine oitue a Eane rtor:jr « 

ten no rtfurgut t rnpij i iudirio : nrqt 

I pecatoreq in eofttio nifttmL Q u&fc 

t> am nouit rammae oia aiBai : ftm > 

unpiorum peobiLjB&lmu* nawft 

§rrt fcemuetut gttto : er mfi mt> 
ran ftrat mama_f5flhcmir 
tt et prinripte djuffjttunt i n 
ui&ie Dim i oouui r mHu e#. 
iparaT oincfa cob: i iiinam? 
i iugu ipo aOinjonat i ce> 
, P H«ubit eoe: * imeuJoTan abit ro r . 
^jfura loqutf ao too in ira fua : * m 
furor? Cuo totuttjabir roo.^lrjo au- 
tew toBrtur? Gnu re| ab eo fuprc fron 
monrem fanttueCrpouao pocentu 
eiue;0 onunue Boat ao me nuue 



mmo to tu : ego Wif fitnuj nvp o^ 
Kula a me ct oabo ribt pettteo nraai' 
room ma : er {offrdione m fminoe 
nw.t\frjro too f oitga fcrtta : i tan 
to oae Rguli to&mrjre eoe.^t nut 
regpo inralkntt : ouoiiuini q iuOinv 
no tma0mua tmo t rimore : et rf 
ultatc n ol tteiuorr 4fe jpn^enOire ol- 
rtipiinflm : ne quuoo icafiatur corai* 
nue * pmane oe oia iuBojQ u rn f§ 
orCeru in brrui ica due : bra^oraneo 
5Ul to nBO u n t i n ro^CUtuttf D»uu5 
oldxgcgtA-faQf ^Otefeflb j&u .^ 
v^k onrnte qO rafriplitan &nt qui 
*KJ tdbul5t me^multi tnfurgut ao* 
urtfum raf^ft ulti incur anirae mtr : 
no t& falue i$h in Oto riu&£> u aut 
one rufcrproi me? eo : gloria mea i x% 
alraotapm meuXX? te m ^ aoOo 
minu clamaui : \ ffauoiuit nietrmo^ 
te fado fuo^(go tommri \ Oaparat? 
iuru : \ tfTucren quia oris fufcepit me. 
^Onrimeno miliapopuliricculBn? 
no me : cjurge One faluu me fat Druo 
meufl Quon tam tu ptuffiOt omeo 
aonfantrolfiifbi fine caufa ; oenteo 
pecatocu totduiarOomim ett Cal? : 
ft (uprt poimlu mum benxtMo ma. 
Jafinmi ra caxraTbus pTalmf Dauift 
/ ^Vum maotaxe eiauOiuit me & uo 
%^\mfiinr mre : i tdbuianone Dila 
taffi numiili ifcrtrt rmt : et ffauDi 0-- 
rationf meaJBili» tominu ufcp qua 
graui mitt: ut quio DHiguio uanirn- 
ran tr ourdne metecuim {4$t fdtote 
quoma mmlitauir one factum fuu : 
czns tfauDtet me m damauem ao eu. 
^ca&eminiet nolitr peorace : qui Dt* 
two in rotmbue oeQne in cubiitbue 
ueQne mmpungiramij^raniTitare 
fardfidu iuBtne i fpcrarc m amino . 
raulnDtwm qo oftmoitnobietona. 



Page from the Mazarin Bible (reduced). 

the characters known as Gothic, or black letter. 
These were closely modelled on the form of the 



94 THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

handwriting used at that time for Bibles and 
kindred works. It is in two volumes, and each 
page, excepting a few at the beginning, has two 
columns of forty-two lines, and each is provided 
with rubrics, inserted by hand, while the small 
initials of the sentences have a touch of red, also 
put in by hand. Some copies are of vellum, 
others of paper. But henceforward the use of 
vellum declines. 

*^\ o mint $8 mfapluati 

*KJ tabular ratf raulti ml 

imfumme^ uitt&itutan 

no t&Mm tpft in nm tim 
fine Iufceptm rat? m : gtori* 
altaeraput mriiXXme m 
rainu damaui : * rgautmiit 
te facto fuo^p Bmmiri i 
luran tiOttreii quia ims fu 

Type of the Mazarin Bible (exact size). 

The Mazarin Bible is usually considered to be 
the joint work of Gutenberg and Fust. Mr. 
Winter Jones has conjectured that the metal 
types used in early printing were cut by the 
goldsmiths, and that Fust's skill, as well as his 
money, were pressed into Gutenberg's service. 



GUTENBERG AND THE MENTZ PRESS. 95 

But if, as some have thought, Fust provided 
money only, while Gutenberg was the working 
partner, then Fust would hardly have been con- 
cerned in its actual production until 1455, when 
he and Gutenberg separated. Even then — sup- 
posing the book to have been still unfinished — 
it is quite possible that Schoeffer did the work. 
But no one is able to decide the exact parts 
played by those three associated and most noted 
printers of Mentz ; conjecture alone can allot 
them. 

Gutenberg returned to Mentz in 1456, and 
made a fresh start, aided financially by Dr. Con- 
rad Homery. Here again we are confronted with 
a want of direct evidence, and can point to no 
books as certainly being the work of Gutenberg. 
But there are good reasons for believing that 
under this new arrangement he printed the 
Catholicon, or Latin grammar and dictionary, of 
John of Genoa ; the Tractatus racionis et conscie?itice 
of Matthaeus de Cracovia ; Summa de articulis fidei 
of Aquinas; and an Indulgence of 1461. There 
is a colophon to the Catholicon which may possibly 
have been written by Gutenberg, which runs as 
follows : — 

" By the assistance of the Most High, at 
Whose will the tongues of children become elo- 
quent, and Who often reveals to babes what He 
hides from the wise, this renowned book, the 
Catholicon, was printed and perfected in the year 
of the Incarnation 1460, in the beloved city of 
Mentz (which belongs to the illustrious German 
nation, whom God has consented to prefer and 
to raise with such an exalted light of the mind 
and free grace, above the other nations of the 
earth), not by means of reed, stile, or pen, but 



96 THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

by the admirable proportion, harmony, and con- 
nection of the punches and types." A metrical 
doxology follows. 

A few other and smaller works have also been 
believed to have been executed by Gutenberg at 
this time, but with no certainty. 

In 1465 Gutenberg was made one of -the 
gentlemen of the court to Adolph II., Count of 
Nassau and Archbishop of Mentz, and presum- 
ably abandoned his printing on acceding to this 
dignity. In 1467 or 1468 Gutenberg died, and 
thus ends the meagre list of facts which we 
have concerning the life and career of the first 
printer. 

To nearly every question which we might 
wish to ask about Gutenberg and his work, one 
of two answers has to be given — " It is not 
known," or " Perhaps." He does not speak for 
himself, and none of his personal acquaintance, 
or his family, if he had any, speak for him. We 
have no reason to believe that his work brought 
him any particular honour, and certainly it 
brought him no wealth. It has been suggested, 
however, that the post offered to him by the 
Archbishop was in recognition of his invention, 
since there is no other reason apparent why the 
dignity was conferred. But we may well con- 
clude this account of Gutenberg with De Vinne's 
words, that " there is no other instance in mod- 
ern history, excepting, possibly, Shakespeare, of 
a man who did so much and said so little about 
it." 

Fust, the former partner of Gutenberg, died 
in 1466, leaving a son to succeed him in the part- 
nership with Schoeffer, and Schoeffer died about 
1502. Of his three sons (all printers), the eldest, 



GUTENBERG AND THE MENTZ PRESS. 97 

Johann, continued to work at Mentz until about 

*533- 

The most notable books issued by Fust and 

Schoeffer were the Psalter of 1457, and the Latin 
Bible of 1462. The Bible of 1462 is the first 
Bible with a date. The Psalter of 1457 is famous 
as being the first printed Psalter, the first printed 
book with a date, the first example of printing in 
colours, the first book with a printed colophon, 
and the first printed work containing musical 
notes, though these last are not printed but in- 
serted by hand.* The colour printing is shown 
by the red and blue initials, but by what process 
they were executed has been the subject of much 
discussion. They are generally supposed to have 
been added after the rest of the page had been 
printed, by means of a stamp. The colophon is 
written in the curious Latin affected by the early 
printers, and Mr. Pollard offers the following as 
a rough rendering : — 

" The present book of Psalms, adorned with 
beauty of capitals, and sufficiently marked out 
with rubrics, has been thus fashioned by an in- 
genious invention of printing and stamping, and 
to the worship of God diligently brought to com- 
pletion by Johann Fust, a citizen of Mentz, and 
Peter Schoffer of Gernsheim, in the year of our 
Lord, 1457, on the Vigil of the Feast of the 
Assumption." 

These two printers also produced, in 1465, an 
edition of the De Officiis of Cicero, which shares 
with the Lactantius, printed in the same year at 

* The first printed musical notes appear in de Gerson's 
Collectorium super Magnificat^ printed at Esslingen in 1473 
by Conrad Fyner, 

7 



98 THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

Subiaco, near Rome, by Sweynheim and Pannartz, 
the honour of exhibiting to the world the first 
Greek types, and with the same printers' Cicero 
De Oratore, that of being the first printed Latin 
classic, unless an undated De Officiis, printed at 
Cologne by Ulrich Zel about this time, is the 
real " first." 



CHAPTER IX. 

EARLY PRINTING. 

Wherever typography originated, it was from 
Mentz that it was taught to the world. The dis- 
turbances in that city in 1462 drove many of its 
citizens from their homes, and the German print- 
ers were thus dispersed over Europe. Within a 
little more than twenty years from the time of 
the first issue from the Mentz printing-press, 
other presses were established at Strasburg, Bam- 
berg, Cologne, Augsberg, Nuremburg, Spires, 
Ulm, Lubeck, and Breslau ; Basle; Rome, Venice, 
Florence, Naples, and many other Italian cities; 
.Paris and Lyons ; Bruges ; and, in 1477, at West- 
minster. 

Before the end of the fifteenth century eighteen 
European countries were printing books. Italy 
heads the list with seventy-one cities in which 
presses were at work, Germany follows with fifty, 
France with thirty-six, Spain with twenty-six, 
Holland with fourteen ; and after these Eng- 
land's four printing-places — Westminster, Lon- 
don, Oxford, and St. Albans — make a somewhat 
small show. Some other countries, however, had 

V ' 



EARLY PRINTING. 99 

but one printing-town. With the possible excep- 
tion of Holland, England and Scotland are the 
only countries which are indebted to a native 
and not (as in every case save that of Ireland) to 
a German for the introduction of printing. 

The early printers were more than mere work- 
men. They were usually editors and publishers 
as well. Some of them were associated with 
scholars who did the editorial work : Sweynheim 
and Pannartz, for instance, the first to set up a 
press in Italy, had the benefit of the services of 
the Bishop of Aleria, and their rival, Ulrich Hahn, 
enjoyed for a while the assistance of the cele- 
brated Campanus. Aldus Manutius, too, the 
founder of the Aldine press at Venice, though 
himself a literary man and a learned editor, 
availed himself of the help of several Greek 
scholars in the revising and correcting of clas- 
sical texts. The exact relations of these editors 
to the printers, however, is not known. The 
English printer, Caxton, who also was a scholar, 
usually, though not invariably, edited his pub- 
lications himself. 

The first printers were also booksellers, and 
sold other people's books as well as their own. 
Several of their catalogues or advertisements still ■ 
exist. The earliest known book advertisements 
are some issued by Peter Schoeffer, one, dating 
from about J1469, giving a list of twenty-one 
books for sa|e by himself or his agents in the 
several towns where he had established branches 
of his business, and another advertising an edition 
of St. Jerome's Epistles published by Schoeffer at 
Mentz in 1470. An advertisement by Caxton is 
also extant, and being short, as well as interesting, 
may be quoted here. It is as follows: — 



-" LofC. 



IOO THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

If it plese ong man spiritncl or tempore! to 
bge onn pges,* of too anb tl)ve com c mora cio* 
of salisbnri use enprgntib after tt)e forme of 
tl)is preset lettre tol)irl)e ben ml anb trulg 
correct, late fyrnn come to toestmonester in to ttie 
almonesrge at tl]e reeb pale anb l)c sljal Ijaue 
tl)em goob cfyepe. 

Snpplico stet cebnla. 

The date of this notice is about 1477 or 1478. 
Other extant examples of early advertisements 
are those of John Mentelin, a Strasburg printer, 
issued about 1470, and of Antony Koburger, of 
Nuremberg, issued about ten years later. In 1495 
Koburger advertised the Nuremberg Chronicle. 

Early printed books exhibit a very limited 
range of subject, and were hardly ever used to 
introduce a new contemporary writer. Theology 
and jurisprudence in Germany, and the classics 
in Italy, inaugurated the new invention, and 
lighter fare was not served to the patrons of 
printed literature until a later date. Italy made 
the first departure, and took up history, romance, 
and poetry. France began with the classics, and 
then neglected them for romances and more 
popular works, but at the same time became 
noted for the beautifully illuminated service- 
books produced at Paris and Rouen, and which 
supplied the clergy of both France and England. 
England, who received printing twelve years after 
Italy and seven years after France, made more 
variety in her books than any. Caxton's pro- 

* The Pye, or Pica, directed how saints'-days falling in 
Lent, Easter, Whitsuntide, and the octave of Trinity, were 
to be observed with respect to the " commemorations " of 
these seasons. 



EARLY PRINTING. 10 1 

ductions consist of works dealing with subjects 
of wider interest, even if less learned and im- 
proving — romances, chess, good manners, ALsop's 
Fables, the Canterbury Tales, and the Adventures 
of Reynard the Fox. 

From what sort of type the Bible, usually con- 
sidered to be the first printed book, was produced 
is not known. Some competent authorities think 
that wooden types were used. Others are in favour 
of metal, and, like the late Mr. Winter Jones, scout 
the notion of wooden types and consider them 
" impossible things." But Skeen, in his Early 
Typography, declares that hard wood would print 
better than soft lead, such as Blades hints that 
Caxton's types were made of, and to illustrate 
the possibility of wooden types prints a word in 
Gothic characters from letters cut in boxwood. 
The objections made to types of this nature are 
that they would be too weak to bear the press, 
could never stand washing and cleaning, and 
would swell when wet and shrink when dried. 
Some have thought that the early types were 
made by stamping half-molten metal with wooden 
punches, and so forming matrices from which the 
types were subsequently cast. 

As we have already noticed in connection with 
the Mazarin Bible, the forms of the types were 
copied from the Gothic or black letter characters 
in which Bibles, psalters, and missals were then 
written. When Roman type was first cut is un- 
certain. The "R" printer of Strasburg, whose 
name is unknown, and whose works are dated only 
by conjecture, may have been the first to use it. 
It was employed by Sweynheim and Pannartz in 
1467, and by the first printers in Paris and 
Venice. It was brought to the greatest perfec- 



102 THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

tion by Nicolas Jenson, a Frenchman working in 
Venice. Caxton never employed it, and it was 
not introduced into England until 1509. In that 
year Richard Pynson, a London printer and a 
naturalised Englishman, though Norman by birth, 
used some Roman type in portions of the Sermo 
Fratris Hieronymi de Ferrara, and in 1518 he 
produced Oratio Ricardi Pacaei, which was en- 
tirely printed in these characters. 

Had the idea of the title-page, in the modern 
sense of the term, a very obvious idea, as it seems 
to us, occurred to the first printers, we should not 
have to sharpen our wits on the hundred and one 
doubtful points with which the subject of early 
bibliography bristles. To-day, the title-page not 
only introduces the book itself, but declares the 
name of the writer and the publisher, and the 
time and place of publication. But during the 
first sixty years of printing title-pages were rare, 
and the old methods followed by the scribes in 
writing their manuscript books still obtained. The 
subject matter began with " Incipit " or " Here 
beginneth," etc., according to the language in 
which the work was written, and such information 
as the printer considered it desirable to impart 
was contained in the colophon, or note affixed to 
the end of the book. 

More often than not these colophons are 
irritatingly reticent, and withhold the very thing 
we want to know. At other times they are in- 
forming, and in some cases amusing. Dr. Garnett 
has suggested that as a literary pastime some one 
might do worse than collect fifteenth-century 
colophons into a volume, for the sake of their 
biographical and personal interest, but I am not 
aware that his idea has been carried out. Two 



EARLY PRINTING. 103 

colophons have already been quoted here, the 
first printed colophon (see p. 97), and one which 
is possibly from the pen of Gutenberg (see p. 95). 
A quaint specimen found in a volume of Cicero's 
Orationes Philippicce, printed at Rome by Ulrich 
Hahn, about 1470, descends to puns. It is in 
Latin verse, and supposed by some to have been 
written by Cardinal Campanus, who edited several 
of Hahn's publications. It informs the descend- 
ants of the Geese who saved the Capitol that 
they need have no more fear for their feathers, 
for the art of Ulrich the Cock (German Hahn = 
Latin Gallus = English Cock) will provide a potent 
substitute for quills. A colophon to Cicero's 
Epistolce Familiar es y printed at Venice in 1469 by 
Joannes de Spira, declares with pardonable pride 
that he had printed two editions of three hundred 
copies in four months. 

The first book with any attempt at a title-page 
is the Sermo ad Populum Predicabilis, printed at 
Cologne in 1470 by Arnold Therhoernen, but a 
full title-page was not generally adopted till fifty 
years later. The first English title-page is very 
brief, and reads as follows : — 

Qt passing gobe litgU bake necessarjje & 
Ijelpefnll agenst tt)£ pestilence. 

This gode lityll boke, written by Canutus, Bishop 
of Aarhaus, was printed in London about 1482 
by Machlinia. A later development of the title- 
page was a full-page woodcut, headed by the 
name of the work, as in the Jtgnge Ulicijarbe 
met btt lgon 1 printed in 1528 by Wynkyn de 
Worde. The same woodcut does duty in another 
of the same printer's books for Robert the Devil. 



104 THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

Early title-pages in Latin sometimes render 
the names of familiar places of publication in a 
very unfamiliar form. London may appear as 
Augusta Trinobantum, Edinburgh as Aneda, 
Dublin as Eblana. Some towns are easily recog- 
nised by their Latin names, such as Roma or 
Venetise ; others are less obvious, such as Mo- 
guntia, or Mentz ; Lutetia, or Paris; Argentina, 
or Strasburg. Several places had more than one 
Latin form of name. London, for example, was 
Londinum, and Edinburgh, Edemburgem. 

Pagination, or numbering of the pages, was 
first introduced by Arnold Therhoernen, in the 
same book in which he gives us the first title- 
page, and to which reference has already been 
made. He did not place the figures at the top 
corner, however, but in the centre of the right- 
hand margin. 

The practice of printing the first word of a leaf 
at the foot of the leaf preceding, as a guide for 
the arrangement of the sheets, was first employed 
by Vindelinus de Spira, of Venice, in the Tacitus 
which he printed about 1469. 



CHAPTER X. 

EARLY PRINTING IN ITALY AND SOME OTHER 
COUNTRIES. 

The new invention found more favour in 
Italy than in any other country, for more presses 
were established there than anywhere else. The 
printers, however, were all Germans, and before 
1480 about no German typographers were at 



EARLY PRINTING IN ITALY. 105 

work in twenty- seven Italian cities. They kept 
the secrets of their trade well to themselves, and 
not till 147 1 was any printing executed by an 
Italian. In May of that year the De Medicinis 
U?iiversalibics of Mesua was executed at Venice 

^ %Oft%rma(H£,(jclficrttiop 
Jp _ Jet pods m'fffaclfjti^ ©Imi 
fj:acfraects iocuditace inusseiabil 
omedeleaerir \y eos ad rcgtut aita 
pbtlofcpbiquoq* dicer alKjjdeonac 
nss crafire alas tnoua cor ga dtiput 
ex pecudibus t bdte5.ee k ipm ex E 
que Cicero air fatdf porricu ftoico^ 
fnouacoe mudiloquerct =bec thoilit 
&MXop cotf OvSk&p tt&S>paYO 

Type of the Subiaco Lactantius (exact size). 

by Clement of Padua, who accomplished the 
truly wonderful feat of teaching himself how to 
print. Another Italian, Joannes Phillipus de 
Lignamine, printed at Rome some time before 
July 26, 1471, and it is therefore uncertain 
whether he or Clement of Padua was the first 
native printer of Italy. 

The first press established in Italy was that 
set up in the Benedictine monastery of St. Scholas- 



io6 THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

tica at Subiaco, a few miles from Rome, by two 
German typographers, Conrad Sweynheim and 
Arnold Pannartz. There they issued Cicero's 
De Oratore in 1465, the first book printed in 
Italy. In their petition to the Pope, referred to 
below, they say that they had printed a Donattts, 
presumably before the Cicero, but no such work 
is known, and some have thought it was only a 
block-book. In the same year they issued the 
works of Lactantius, " the Christian Cicero, " the 
first dated book executed in Italy. It is also one 
of the earliest books to adopt a more elaborate 
punctuation than the simple oblique line and full 
stop in general use. The Lactantius has a colon, 
full stop, and notes of admiration and interroga- 
tion. Both these books are printed in a pleasing 
type which is neither Gothic nor Roman, but mid- 
way between the two. 

Two years later Sweynheim and Pannartz 
removed to Rome, where their countryman, Ulrich 
Hahn, was already at work, and prosecuted their 
business with so much energy, and apparently 
so little prudence or regard to the works of other 
printers, that at the end of five years they had 
printed no less than 12,475 sheets which they 
could not sell, and were in such financial straits 
that they petitioned the Pope for assistance for 
themselves and their families. Whether they ob- 
tained it is unknown, but the partnership was 
soon after dissolved, and the name of Pannartz 
alone appears in books of 1475 an d 1476. When 
these two printers died is uncertain. 

Venice was the next city of Italy to take up 
the new art. There, in 1469, Joannes de Spira, 
or John of Spires, executed Cicero's Epistohc 
ad Familiares. He obtained a privilege from 



EARLY PRINTING IN ITALY. 107 

the Venetian Senate with regard to his produc- 
tions, and, more than that, a monopoly of book- 
printing in Venice for five years. He died, how- 
ever, less than a year later, and his monopoly with 
him. His brother Vindelinus carried on his work, 
and was succeeded by Nicolas Jenson, a French- 
man, who, from a technical point of view, was 
perhaps the most skilful and artistic of early 
typographers. 

The most famous printer of Venice, however, 
and the most famous printer of Italy, and perhaps 
of the world, is Aldus Manutius, born in 1450, 
but his fame rests less on his actual printing, 
which, though good, is not unequalled, than upon 
the efforts he made for popularising literature, and 
bringing cheap, yet well-produced books within 
the reach of the many. He saw that the works 
printed in such numbers by the Venetian printers, 
who paid attention to quantity and cheapness and 
altogether ignored the quality of their produc- 
tions, were faulty and corrupt, and that textually 
as well as typographically there was room for 
improvement. He applied himself to the study 
of the classics, above all to the Greek, hitherto 
neglected or published through Latin transla- 
tions, and secured the assistance of many eminent 
scholars, and then, having obtained good texts, 
turned his thoughts to type and format. The 
types he cast for his first book, Lascaris' Greek 
Grammar, were superior to the Greek types then 
in use. Next he designed a new Roman type, 
modelled, so it is said, upon the handwriting of 
Petrarch. It called forth admiration, and won fame 
under the name of the " Aldino " type. Its use 
has continued to the present day, and it is known 
to almost everyone as Italic. It was cut by Fran- 



108 THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

cesco de Bologna, who was probably identical with 
Francesco Raibolini, that painter-goldsmith who 
signed himself on his pictures as Aurifex y and on 
his gold-work as Pictor. 

The advantage of the Aldino type, at the 
time of its invention, when type was large and 

I lie me as erraYeboHes 9 utcertus,ct ipfkm 
lsudere,qu& udiem 9 al4mofcrmifit agrefh* 
noneqmdemmuideo^ror mdcns.wndiclytvtis Mr. 

V fqueddeo turbaturagfUeniffeaifdUs 

V rotinu i &<gr ag) 9 han( eh am uix Tityre dnco> 
H ic inter dcnfos corylot rnodo mn^^mellos, 
S pemgrcgs ah [ilia in md<t connix a reliciuit' 
S <cpe rmlwm hoc nobis ,fi mens non leHdfitiffet, 
D ecezlofo/htsmertHtu frzdiczYt qitercHS' 

S <£pefituftrd(tfH6pr<£dwit ab ilicecorruy* 
S edtenienjftv dens <$u\ fit^ajityre nobis* 

V rbcm y <^H4m dicunt &c>PMm,Mehbceepufoni Tf, 
$ tutus fg3 hmcnoprafimltm^KcfcpefoUnHis 

a it 

Type of the Aldine Virgil, 1501 (exact size). 

required a comparatively great deal of space, 
was that its size and form permitted the printed 
matter to be much compressed, while losing 
nothing in clearness. The book for which it was 
used could be made smaller, and printed more 
cheaply. In 1501 Aldus inaugurated his new 
type by issuing a Virgil printed throughout in 
" Aldino." It occupied two hundred and twenty- 
eight leaves, and was of a neat and novel shape, 
measuring just six by three and a half inches. 



EARLY PRINTING IN ITALY. 109 

This book, which was sold for about two shillings 
of our money, marks Aldus as the pioneer of 
cheap literature — literature not for the wealthy 
alone, but for all who loved books. A proof of 
the popularity of the new departure is afforded by 
the fact that the Virgil was immediately forged, 
that is to say, reproduced in a number of exceed- 
ingly inferior copies, by an unknown printer of 
Lyons. 

The Aldine mark, which appears on Aldus' 
edition of Dante's Terze Rime in 1502, and on 
nearly all the numerous works subsequently issued 
from this famous press, is a dolphin twined about 
an anchor, and the name Aldvs divided by the 
upper part of the anchor. This device continued 
to be used after the death of Aldus Manutius 
in 15 15 by his descendants, who carried on the 
work of the press until 1597. 

France was somewhat late in availing herself 
of the advantages offered by the new art, although 
Peter Schoeffer had had a bookseller's shop in 
Paris. In 1470, Guillaume Fichet, Rector of the 
Sorbonne, invited three German printers — Ulric 
Gering, Michael Friburger, and Martin Cranz — 
to come and set up a printing-press at the Sor- 
bonne. The first work they produced there was 
the Epistolce of Gasparinus Barzizius. For this 
and a few other volumes they used a very beauti- 
ful Roman type, but after the closing of the 
Sorbonne press in 1472 they established other 
presses elsewhere in Paris and adopted a Gothic 
character similar to that of the contemporary 
French manuscripts, and therefore more likely 
to be popular with French readers. 

The first work printed in the French language, 
however, is believed to have been executed, 



HO THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

chiefly, at any rate, by an Englishman, probably 
at Bruges, five years later, that is, about 1476. 
The book was Le Recueil des Histoires de Troyes, 
t. a Englishman was William Caxton. Caxton 
also printed at the same place, and about the 
year 1475, tne ^ rst book in the English language 
— a translation of Le Recueil. In both these 
works he may have been assisted by Colard 
Mansion, believed by some to have been his typo- 
graphical tutor, though so eminent an authority 
as Mr. Blades holds that Le Recueil was printed 
by Mansion alone, and that Caxton had no hand 
in it. As with so many other questions concern- 
ing early typography, there seems to be no means 
of deciding the point. 

The first work in French which was issued 
in Paris was the Grands Chroniques de France, 
by Pasquier Bonhomme in 1477. 

Holland and the Low Countries can show no 
printed book with a date earlier than 1473, while 
the celebrated city of Haarlem's first dated book 
was produced ten years later. But printing was 
very possibly practised in these countries at an 
earlier period, and some undated books exist which 
those who ascribe the invention of typography 
to Holland consider to have been executed by 
Dutch printers before any German books had 
been given to the world. Those who stand by 
Germany of course think otherwise. 

In the year just named — 1473 — Nycolaum 
Ketelaer and Gerard de Leempt produced Peter 
Comestor's Historia Scholastica at Utrecht, and 
Alost and Louvain also started printing. The 
types of John Veldener, the first Louvain printer, 
have a great resemblance to those used by Cax- 
ton, and have led some to believe that Veldener 



EARLY PRINTING IN ITALY. 1 1 r 

supplied Caxton with the types he first used 
at Westminster. About the same time, Colard 
Mansion, noted for his association either rs 
teacher or assistant with Caxton, is suppo .d 
to have introduced printing into Bruges. His 
first dated book was a Boccaccio of 1476, and he 
continued to print until 1484, when he issued a 
fine edition, in French, of Ovid's Metamorphoses. 
After this nothing more is known of him. Blades 
thinks that his printing brought him financial 
ruin, and suggests that he may have joined his 
old friend Caxton at Westminster, and helped 
him in his work, but this is only conjecture. We 
have already seen that it was from Colard Man- 
sion's press that the first printed books in the 
English and French languages were produced. 

The first Brussels press was established by the 
Brethren of the Common Life, a community who 
had hitherto made a specialty of the production 
of manuscript books. At what date they began 
to print in Brussels is uncertain, but their first 
dated book, the Gnotosolitos sive speculum conscientiae, 
is of the year 1476. The Brethren also had an 
earlier press at Marienthal, near Mentz, and sub- 
sequently set up others at Rostock, Nuremberg, 
and Gouda. 

The Elzevirs belong to a somewhat later period 
than that with which we are concerned in these 
chapters, but a name so famous in bibliographical 
annals as theirs cannot well be passed over. The 
first of the Elzevirs was Louis, a native of Lou- 
vain, who in 1580 established a book-shop in 
Leyden, gained the patronage of the university, 
and opened an important trade with foreign 
countries. Certain of his sons and successors 
became printers as well as booksellers, and pro- 



112 THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

duced work of the highest excellence. Some of 
them opened shops or set up presses at Amster- 
dam, The Hague, and Utrecht, and also estab- 
lished agencies or branches elsewhere, and ex- 
tended their trade all over Europe. The history 
of the partnerships between different members 
of the family, and of the sixteen hundred and 
odd publications which they printed or sold, is a 
complicated subject upon which there is no need 
to enter here. The last of the Elzevirs, a degen- 
erate great-great-grandson of the first Louis El- 
zevir, was Abraham Elzevir, of Leyden, who died 
in 17 1 2, leaving no heir, and at whose decease the 
press and apparatus were sold. 



CHAPTER XI. 

EARLY PRINTING IN ENGLAND. 

The first name on the list of early English 
printers, it is hardly necessary to say, is that of 
Caxton. In his Life and Typography of William 
Caxlo/i, the late Mr. Blades has told all there is 
to be known of Caxton's life, and a great deal 
about Caxton's work ; and although as regards 
the latter half of the subject there are authorities 
who dissent from some of the theories he advances, 
Mr. Blades' monograph remains the standard work 
on the matter of England's first printer and the 
recognised source of information concerning him 
and his books. 

But notwithstanding Mr. Blades' industry and 
learning, our knowledge of the early part of Cax- 
ton's life is very scanty, and is derived mainly 



EARLY PRINTING IN ENGLAND. 1 13 

from what Caxton himself tells us in the pro- 
logue to his first literary production, the English 
translation of the French romance by Le Fevre, 
entitled Le Recueil des Histoires de Troyes, or, 
Anglicised, The Recuyell of the Histories of Troye. 
Speaking of his boldness in undertaking the 
work, he refers to the " symplenes and vnperfight- 
ness that I had in both languages, that is to wete 
in frenshe and in englissh, for in france was I 
neuer, and was born & lerned myn englissh in 
kente in the weeld where I doubte "not is spoken 
as brode and rude englissh as is in ony place of 
englond." He was born probably in 1422 or 1423, 
and further than this we know nothing of him till 
his apprenticeship to Robert Large, a London 
mercer. Large died before Caxton's term of ap- 
prenticeship expired, and the next we hear of 
young Caxton is that he was living on the Conti- 
nent, probably at Bruges. At the time he wrote 
the prologue from which quotation has just been 
made, that is about 1475, ne na cl been for thirty 
years " for the' most parte in the contres of Bra- 
band, flanders, holand, and zeland." Yet not- 
withstanding so long a residence in the Low 
Countries, he describes himself as " mercer of y e 
cyte of London." 

As a wool merchant in Bruges he prospered, 
and in time rose to be Governor of the Company 
of Merchant Adventurers, or "The English 
Nation," and in that capacity probably dwelt at 
the Domus Anglice, the Company's headquarters 
in Bruges. In 1468, and while holding this 
honourable and important position, he began 
his translation of Le Recueil, but soon laid it 
aside, unfinished. Two years later he took it 
up again, but by this time he had resigned the 



114 THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

governorship, and was engaged in the service of 
the Duchess of Burgundy, sister of Edward IV. 
of England. When or why he took this position, 
and in what capacity he served the Duchess, is 
not known, but it was her influence which brought 
about the completion of his literary work and 
indirectly caused the subsequent metamorphosis 
of the mercer into the typographer. In the pro- 
logue to The Recuyell he relates that the duchess 
commanded him to finish the translation which 
he had begun, and this lady's " dredefull comade- 
ment," he says, " y durste in no wyse disobey 
because y am a servat vnto her sayde grace and 
resseiue of her yerly ffee and other many goode 
and grete benefetes." 

The Recuyell of the Histories of Troye, when 
finished, immediately found favour in the eyes of 
the English dwellers in Bruges, who, rejoiced to 
have the favourite romance of the day in their 
own tongue, demanded more copies than one 
pair of hands could supply. So because of the 
weariness and labour of writing, and because of 
his promise to various friends to provide them 
with the book, "I haue practysed & lerned," 
he tells us, " at my grete charge and dispense, 
to ordeyne this said book in prynte after the 
maner & forme as ye may here see, and is 
not wreton with penne and ynke, as other bokes 
ben, to thende that every man may haue them 
attones. ,, 

Where Caxton gained his knowledge of print- 
ing is a matter of dispute. Mr. Blades holds that 
he was taught by Colard Mansion, the first printer 
of Bruges, others that he learned at Cologne. Mr. 
Blades adduces in support of his view the similarity 
of the types of Mansion and Caxton, the reproduc- 



EARLY PRINTING IN ENGLAND. 115 

tion in Caxton's work of various peculiarities to 
be observed in Mansion's, the improbability that 
Caxton would have travelled to Cologne to get 
what was already at hand in the city where he lived, 
and the absence in his work " of any typographical 
link between him and the Mentz school." For 
the Cologne theory Wynkyn de Worde, who car- 
ried on the work of Caxton's printing-office at 
Westminster after the latter's death, supplies some 
foundation in his edition of Bartholomaeus De 
Proprietatibus Rerum, where he says : 

"And also of your charyte call to remem- 
braunce 

The soule of William Caxton, the first prynter 
of this boke 

In laten tongue at Coleyn, hymself to avaunce, 

That every well-disposed man may thereon 
loke." 

As usual there is something to be said on both 
sides, but leaving this debateable ground we will 
only add that the Re city ell of the Historyes of Troye, 
translated by himself from the French, is generally 
considered to be the first book printed by Caxton, 
perhaps with Mansion's help, and probably at 
Bruges, and in or about the year 1475. ^ * s a l so 
the first printed book in English. It was followed 
about 1476 by the French version of the same 
work, and by the famous Game and Play of the 
Chesse Moralised. This was once believed to be 
the first book printed on English soil, but it is 
now assigned to Caxton's press on the Continent, 
probably at Bruges. 

About 1476 Caxton returned to England, and 
set up his press at Westminster. It has been 
asserted that he worked in the scriptorium, but it 
is not known that Westminster Abbey ever had a 



Il6 THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

scriptorium. Others have thought that he printed 
in some other part of the Abbey. His office, how- 
ever, was situated in the Almonry, in the Abbey 
precincts, and was called the Red Pale, but it is 
now impossible to identify the place w T here it 
stood. In 1477 Caxton produced The Dictes or 
Sayengis of the Philosophres, the first book, so far 
as is known, ever printed in England. 

m 1 of to* r$fbfop$$tt* 

^ M — ^ Cagfct) at Sefbntf 

;£crt>? Q^n^Mte <&& of ¥j>uf 

fcGque /fo* out fjofy ,$aM *l 
<&ngPonb; cmty <Scuc*nout 

Type of Caxton's Dictes or Sayengis of the Philosophres, 
Westminster, 1477 (exact size). 

The Westminster printer was patronised by 
the king and by the mighty of the land, and also 
by the Duchess of Burgundy, and w r ith his pen, 
as well as with his press, he sought to supply the 
books and literature which the taste of the time 
demanded. " The clergy wanted service-books," 



EARLY PRINTING IN ENGLAND. 1 17 

says Mr. Blades, " and Caxton accordingly pro- 
vided them with psalters, commemorations and 
directories ; the preachers wanted sermons, and 
were supplied with the ' Golden Legend,' and 
other similar books ; the ' prynces, lordes, barons, 
knyghtes & gentilmen ' were craving for ' joyous 
and pleysaunt historyes ' of chivalry, and the 
press at the i Red Pale' produced a fresh romance 
nearly every year." From his arrival. at West- 
minster about 1476 until his death about 1491 — 
the date is not exactly known — Caxton was con- 
tinually occupied in translating, editing, and 
printing, though beyond the prologues, epi- 
logues, and colophons to his various publica- 
tions he composed little himself, his principal 
work being the addition of a book to Higden's 
Polychronicon, bringing that history down to 1460. 
His translations number twenty-two. 

The long list of his printed works includes a 
Horce, printed about 1478, and now represented 
only by a fragment, which is of great interest 
as being probably the earliest English-printed 
service-book extant. It was found in the cover 
of another old book, and is now in the Bodleian 
Library. 

Other books printed by Caxton were the 
Canterbury Tales ; Boethius ; Parvus et Magnus 
Catho, a mediaeval school-book, the third edition 
of which contains two woodcuts, probably the 
earliest produced in England ; The Historye of 
Reynart the Foxe, translated from the Dutch by 
Caxton ; A Book of the Chess e Aforalysed 9 a second 
edition of the Game and Play of the Chesse, printed 
by Caxton abroad ; The Cronicles of Englond ; The 
Pylgremage of the Sowle, believed to have been 
translated from the French by Lydgate ; Gower's 



THE STORY OF BOOKS. 



Confessio Amantis j The Knyght of the Toure, trans- 
lated by Caxton from the French ; The Golden 
Legend, consisting of lives of saints compiled by 
Caxton from French and Latin texts; The Fables 
of Esope, etc., translated by Caxton from the 




Boys learning grammar, from Caxton's " Catho " and " Mirrour 
of the World." 



French; Chaucer's Book of Fame; Troylus and 
Creside ; Malory's Morte d 'Arthur ; The Book of 
Good Mariners, translated by Caxton from the 
French of Jacques Legrand ; Statutes of Henry 
VII., in English, the " earliest known volume of 
printed statutes"; The Governal of Helthe, from 



EARLY PRINTING IN ENGLAND. 1 19 

the Latin, author and translator unknown, the 
" earliest medical work printed in English " ; 
Divers Ghostly Matters, including tracts on the 
seven points of true love and everlasting wisdom, 
the Twelve Profits of Tribulation, and the Rule 
of St. Be net; The Fifteen Oes and other Prayers, 
printed by command of " our liege ladi Elizabeth 
. . . Queue of Englonde, and of the . . . pryn- 
cesse Margarete," and the "prouffytable boke for 
manes soule and right comfortable to the body 
and specyally in aduersitee and trybulacyon, 
whiche boke is called The Chastysing of Goddes 
Chyldern." 

Between seventy and eighty different books, 
besides indulgences and other small productions, 
are attributed to Caxton's press, and the works 
just named will serve to give an idea of their 
diversity and range. Some of the most popular 
were printed more than once ; of the Golden 
Legend, for example, three editions are known, 
and of the Dictes or Sayings, the Horce, and Par- 
vus et Magnus Catho, and several others, two 
editions are known. There is also a strong 
probability that many of Caxton's productions 
have been lost altogether, since thirty-eight of 
those yet extant are represented either by single 
copies or by fragments. 

Caxton, according to Mr. Blades, used six 
different founts of Gothic type, but Mr. E. Gor- 
don Duff, in his Early English Printing, credits 
him with eight founts. His books are all printed 
on paper, with the exception of a copy of the 
Speculum Vitce Christi in the British Museum, 
and one of the Doctrinal of Sapyence, in the Royal 
Library at Windsor Castle. 

The well-known device of Caxton was not 



120 



THE STORY OF BOOKS. 



used by him till 1487. It is usually understood 
to stand for W.C. 74, but its exact meaning is 
not known. Blades believes that it refers to the 




mmmmmmte^ 




r, ,m i.taiu I'm mmiiMM.i 




Caxton's device. 



date of printing of The Recnyell, the first product 
of Caxton's typographical skill. 

In 1480, three or four years after Caxton had 
settled at Westminster, John Lettou, a foreigner 
of whom little is known, established the first 



EARLY PRINTING IN ENGLAND. 121 

London printing-press.* His workmanship was 
particularly good, and he was the first in this 
country to print two columns to the page. He 
subsequently took into partnership William de 
Machlinia, and according to the colophon of their 
Tenores Novelli the office of these two printers 
was located in the Church of All Saints', but this 
piece of information is too vague to assist in the 
identification of the spot. Machlinia is after- 
wards found working alone in an office near the 
Flete Bridge. His later books were printed in 
Holborn. 

A well-known name is that of Wynkyn de 
Worde, a native of Holland, and at one time 
assistant to Caxton. At Caxton's death he be- 
came master of the Red Pale, and issued a num- 
ber of books "from Caxton's house in West- 
minster," including reprints of several of Caxton's 
publications. He made use of some modified 
forms of Caxton's device, but he also had a de- 
vice of his own, which first appears in the Book 
of Courtesye printed some time before 1493. He 
printed, among other works, the Golden Legend, 
the Book of Courtesye, Bona Ventura's Speculum 
Vitce Christi, Higden's Polychronicon, which ap- 
peared in 1495 and is the first English book with 
printed musical notes ; Bartholomseus De Proprie- 
tatibus Reruni, which appeared about 1495 and is 
the first book printed on English-made paper, 
and which has already been noticed as the author- 
ity for supposing that Caxton learned printing at 
Cologne ; the Boke of St. Albans, the Chronicles 
of England, Morte D' Arthur, The Canterbury 

* It is hardly necessary to remind the reader that at this 
period Westminster was quite distinct from London. 



ae of tMut/t^ tyftfit of tyg!>(/$e 
fburtf) of ajc. as tjjts fppre $ett*$* 

tooioeo t&ere 

jp&ago 

*j>af&cr?ia 

s»aHOfof 

calico tgnd 

c&wi>Je/S>c 

led to low 

topapafoo 

oJfcecaitcD 

nftteotbrc 

alfcjje calico 

fcmme£>/a 

ttatoe fecal* 



„ i i __ 

sLJM__jM__ i o_ |ea all a f eft* 



§. 



2. 



9 



oe ode/^ctf m (ones 3Dpafe5froo/0 
tI?aeJiottoinb«s is calteoali^ 
epgbtetj) ode / J>cft to ttmts Double 

Type of Wynkyn de Worde's Higden's Polychronicon, London, 
1495 (exact size). 



EARLY PRINTING IN ENGLAND. 123 

Tales, etc., etc. He also issued a host of ser- 
mons, almanacs, and other minor works. 

In 1500 Wynkyn de Worde moved from 
Caxton's house in Westminster to the Sign of the 
Sun, in Fleet Street, and presently opened an- 
other place of business at the Sign of Our Lady 
of Pity, in St. Paul's Churchyard. 

About a year after Caxton had established 
himself at the Red Pale, and had issued the 
Dictes or Sayengis, and two years before the city 
of London had attained to the dignity of a 
printing-press, typography began to be practised 
at Oxford, but by whom is not known, though 
very possibly by Theodore Rood of Cologne. 
The first Oxford Book was the Exposicio in Sim- 
bolum Apostolorum of St. Jerome, a work which 
happens to be dated 1468, and has thereby led 
some to assign to Oxford the credit of having 
printed the first book in this country. But that 
date is now acknowledged to be a printer's error 
for 1478. A similar misprint led to a similar 
error as to the first book printed in Venice. The 
Decor Puellarum, executed by Nicolas Jensen, 
purports to have appeared in 1461, and thus was 
at one time supposed to be the first book printed 
in Venice, but the date is now recognised as a 
misprint for 1471, which leaves John of Spires 
the first Venetian printer and his Epistolcz famil- 
iarts of Cicero, 1469, the first Venetian printed 
book. 

Cambridge was more than forty years later 
than Oxford in providing herself with a printing- 
press. 

In the same year that London began to print 
appeared the first books from the press at the 
Abbey of St. Albans, namely, Augustini Dacti 



124 THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

elegancie, and the Nova Rhetorica of Saona. As 
both were printed in 1480 it is uncertain which 
is the earlier. This press was probably started 
in 1479, b ut °f tne printer nothing is known, 
except that when Wynkyn de Worde reprinted 
the Chronicles of England from a copy printed at 
St. Albans, he refers to him as the St. Albans 
" scole mayster." The famous Bokys of Haukyng 
and Huntyng, and also of Cootarmuris, commonly 
known as the Book of St. Albans, written by the 
accomplished Juliana Berners, prioress of the 
neighbouring nunnery of Sopwell, was printed at 
the monastery in i486, and reprinted ten years 
later by Wynkyn de Worde. 



CHAPTER XII. 

EARLY PRINTING IN SCOTLAND. 

Scotland was one of the last of the countries 
of Europe to appreciate the advantages of typog- 
raphy so far as to possess herself of a printing- 
press. She was also, as we have pointed out in a 
previous chapter, the only one, save England, 
and possibly Holland, to have the art of printing 
brought to her by one of her own sons and not 
by a foreigner. 

The first Scottish printer was Andrew Myllar, 
an Edinburgh bookseller, who imported books 
from England and from France, and who, in the 
latter country, learned how to print. Two books 
are extant which were printed for him on the conti- 
nent, probably at Rouen by Laurence Hostingue, 
and these are worth noticing. The first may 



EARLY PRINTING IN SCOTLAND. 125 

speak for itself, through its colophon, of which 
the following is a translation : — " The Book of 
certain ' Words Equivocal,' in alphabetical order, 
along with an interpretation in the English tongue, 




Myllar's device. 

has been happily finished. Which Androw Myl- 
lar, a Scotsman, has been solicitous should be 



126 THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

printed, with admirable art and corrected with 
diligent care, both in orthographic style, accord- 
ing to the ability available, and cleared from 
obscurity. In the year of the Christian Redemp- 
tion, One thousand five hundred and fifth." The 
second book is an Expositio Sequentiarum, or Book 
of Sequences, of the Salisbury use, printed in 
1506. 

In 1507 Myllar was taken into partnership 
by Walter Chepman, and fortified by a royal privi- 
lege these two set up the first Scottish printing- 
press, with plant and types and workmen brought 
by Myllar from France. Chepman furnished the 
capital and Myllar the knowledge. Their press 
was situated at the foot of Blackfriars Wynd in 
the Southgate in Edinburgh. The privilege sets 
forth that Myllar and Chepman have " at our 
instance and request, for our plesour, the honour 
and profht of our Realme and Liegis, takin on 
thame to, furnis and bring hame ane prent, with 
all stuff belangand tharto, and expert men to use 
the sammyn for imprenting within our Realme 
the bukis of T awis, actis of parliament, 

cronicles, mess p arlia,t/: 

It is believed that u.T 7 ,* h ^r ^ y ) t encourage- 
ment shown to Myllar and Chepman by the King 
was the result of the influence of William Elphin- 
stone, Bishop of Aberdeen, who had prepared a 
Breviary, Breviartim Aberdonense, which he wished 
to be used by his countrymen to the exclusion of 
the Salisbury Missal, and that the real purpose of 
the promotion of the first printing-press in Scot- 
land was the printing of this work. For the privi- 
lege goes onto say: "And alis it is divisit and 
thocht expedient be us and our consall, that in 
tyme cuming mess bukis, efter our. awin scottis 



EARLY PRINTING IN SCOTLAND. 127 

use, and with legendis of Scottis Sanctis, as is 
now gaderit and ekit be ane Reverend fader in 
God, and our traist consalour Williame bischope 
of abirdene and utheris, be usit generaly within 
al our Realme alssone as the sammyn may be 
imprentit and providet, and that na maner of sic 
bukis of Salusbery use be brocht to be sauld 
within our Realme in tym cuming." Anyone 
infringing this decree was to be punished and the 
books forfeited. 

But the earliest work of the Southgate press 
consisted of literature of a lighter sort, and, when 
dated at all, is dated 1508, while the Breviary did 
not make its appearance till later. These early 
productions, which survive only in fragments, in- 
cluded The Porteous of Noblenes, The Knightly 
Tale of Golagros and Gawane, Sir Eglamoure of 
A r toys, The Maying or Disport of Chaucer, and 
several others. The Maying or Disport of Chaucer 
is the most perfect specimen remaining,* and its 
exact date can be ascertained from its colophon, 
which reads as follows: — 

igeir enbis t\\emam"s C cour> 4 . ^rtof QLtyaacer. 
Stnpretit \ ivir' > ^ ^.^uit of (Ebinburgl) be 
tDalter cl)c;pmcm anir &nbro B mgllar tt)e fourtl) 
baa f a ? ile tt)e gljere of ®oir MMQLQLQLQL. anb 
tnii gljeris. 

The Maying and Disport is better known as 
the Complaynt of a Lover s Life, or the Complaynt 
of the Black Knight. 

Strange to say, we hear no more of Myllar 
after this. But Chepman comes forward again 
in connection with the Breviary (though it is 



128 THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

uncertain whether he was its printer), and prob- 
ably printed some other books which have been 
lost. The Breviary is a small octavo in two vol- 
umes, the first of which appeared in 1509 and the 
other in 15 10. It is printed in red and black 
Gothic characters. The conclusion of the Latin 
colophon to the second volume may be rendered 
as follows : — 

" Printed in the town of Edinburgh, by the 
command and at the charge of the honourable 
gentleman Walter Chepman, merchant in the said 
town, on the fourth day of June in the year of 
our Lord 15 10." 

The next Scottish printer, so far as is kno'wn, 
was a certain John Story, though only an Office 
of Our Lady of Pity, accompanied by a legend on 
the subject of the relics of St. Andrew, remains 
to testify to us of his existence. It was printed 
" by command of Charles Steele," and Dr. Dick- 
son dates it at (perhaps) about 1520. 

Rather more than twenty years later, Thomas 
Davidson became King's Printer in Edinburgh. 
His only dated work was The New Actis And- 
Constitvtionis of Parliament Maid Be The Rycht 
Excellent Prince lames Tht Fifi Ky>vg of Scottis 
1540. The title-page of this book consists of 
a large woodcut of the Scottish arms, above 
which is the title in four lines printed in Roman 
capitals. This book also displays all three forms 
of type— black letter, Roman, and Italic. Its col- 
ophon, which is printed in Italics, is as follows : 

Imprentit in Edinburgh, be Thomas Davidson, 
dweling abone the nether bow, on the north syde of 
the gait, the aucht day of Eebruarii, the zeir of 
God, 1 5 41. zeris. 

But there is some of Davidson's undated work 



EARLY PRINTING IN SCOTLAND. 129 

which is earlier than this, though it is not known 
for certain when he began to print. Of these un- 
dated publications, Ad Serenissimum Scotorum 
jRegem Iacobum Quintum de stcscepto Regni Regi- 
mine a diis feliciter ominato Strena is notable as 
affording the earliest example of the use of 
Roman type by a Scottish printer, for its title is 
printed in these characters. Only one copy is 
known, and that is in the British Museum. Opin- 
ions differ as to its date, but the majority assign 
it to the year 1528. 

Davidson's most important production, how- 
ever, was his beautiful folio edition of Bellenden's 
translation of Hector Boece's work, The hystory 
and croniklis of Scotland. This, says Dr. Dickson, 
is " an almost unrivalled specimen of early British 
typography. It is one of those gems which the 
earlier period of the art so frequently produced, 
but which no future efforts of the press have sur- 
passed or even equalled." It has a title-page sim- 
ilar to that of the New Actis, but the title itself 
is printed in handsome red Gothic characters. 
Dr. Dickson, to whose learned Annals of Scottish 
P rutting (completed, on account of the author's 
ill-health, by Mr. J. P. Edmond) I am indebted for 
the details of early Scottish typography given 
above, assigns this book to the year 1542. 

Having seen the printing-press fairly set to 
work in Scotland, it will not be necessary here 
to notice- its later productions. But before clos- 
ing the chapter it will be interesting to observe 
that Edinburgh was the place of publication of 
the first work printed in the Gaelic language. 
This was Bishop Carswell's translation of the 
Scottish Prayer-Book, which was printed in 1567 
by Roibeard (Robert) Lekprevik. It is in the 

9 



130 THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

form of Gaelic common at that time to both 
Scotland and Ireland, and therefore as regards 
language it forestalls the Irish Alphabet and 
Catechism, Dublin, 157 1, to which reference is 
made below. The type of Carswell's Prayer- 
Book, however, is Roman. The following is a 
translation of its title - page, made by Dr. 
M'Lauchlan : — 

FORMS OF 

Prayer and 

administration of the sacraments and catechism 
of the Christian faith, here below. According as 
they are practised in the churches of Scotland 
which have loved and accepted the faithful gospel 
of God, on having put away the false faith, turned 
from the Latin and English into Gaelic by Mr. 
John Carswell Minister of the Church of God in 
the bounds of Argyll, whose other name is Bishop 
of the Isles. 

No other foundation can any man lay save that which is 
laid even Jesus Christ. 

1 Cor. 3. 

Printed in dun Edin whose other name is Dun 
monaidh the 24th day of April 1567, 
By Roibeard Lekprevik. 

Lekprevik, whose first work, so far as is known, 
was produced in 1561, printed not only in Edin- 
burgh, but also in Stirling and St. Andrews, at 
different times. 



EARLY PRINTING IN IRELAND. 131 

CHAPTER XIII. 

EARLY PRINTING IN IRELAND. 

In heading a chapter " Early Printing in Ire- 
land," one is somewhat reminded of the celebrated 
chapter on snakes. As a matter of fact, however, 
there is no real analogy. Ireland was very slow 
to adopt the printing-press, and made little use 
of it when she did adopt it, yet it would not 
be quite accurate to say that there was no early 
printing in Ireland. But it can truthfully be said 
that Ireland's early printing was late — late, that 
is, compared with that of other countries. 

The first typographical work known to have 
been produced in Ireland is the Book of Common 
Prayer — the First Prayer-Book of Edward VI. — 
which was printed in Dublin in 155 1 by Humfrey 
Powell. Powell was a printer in Holborn Con- 
duit in 1548, and in 155 1 went to Dublin and 
set up as King's Printer. A " Proclamation . . . 
against the rebels of the O'Conors. . . . 1m- 
prynted at Dublin, by Humfrey Powell, 16th 
August, 1564," seems to be the only other known 
specimen of his Dublin printing. 

The colophon of the first book printed on 
Irish ground is as follows : — 

Smprinteir bg ijjntnfreg JJotoell, printer to tlje 
Htmges ifftaiestie, in liis Ijggfynesse realms of 
Ireland btxreUgng in tl)e rites of SDtxblin in tl)e 
great toure bg i\)c Qlrane. 

Cum priuilegio ad imprimendum solum 

Anno Domini 

M.D.LI. 



132 THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

This Prayer-Book is exceedingly rare. The 
British Museum possesses no copy, but has to 
content itself with photographs showing the title, 
colophon, etc., of that in the library of Trinity 
College, Dublin. Emanuel College, Cambridge, 
has one which formerly belonged to Archbishop 
Sancroft. Cotton, in his Typographical Gazetteer, 
says that Powell's Prayer-Book is most creditable 
to the early Irish press. It is in the English 
language, and printed in black letter. 

The first book printed in the Gaelic language, 
though in Roman type, has already been spoken 
of. The first Gaelic type w T as exhibited to the 
world in a tiny volume of fifty-four pages printed 
at Dublin in 157 1, and entitled Irish Alphabet 
and Catechism. This was compiled by John 
O'Kearney, and contained the elements of the 
Irish language, the Catechism, some prayers, and 
Archbishop Parker's articles of the Christian rule. 
Opposite is a facsimile of the title-page, which 
may be translated as follows: 

Irish Alphabet and Catechism. 

Precept or instruction of a Christian, together 
with certain articles of the Christian rule, which 
are proper for everyone to adopt who would be 
submissive to the ordinance of God and of the 
Queen in this Kingdom ; translated from Latin 
and English into Irish by John O'Kearney. 

Awake, why sleepest thou, O Lord? 
Arise, cast us not off for ever. 

Ps. xliv. ver. 23. 



Printed in Irish in the town of the Ford of 
the Hurdles, at the cost of Master John Usher, 









: ' 



^ ^ w 



> cm 



j 






: >4) 



t-r-K 












! :■' ' " 



Title-page of O'Kearney's Irish Alphabet and Catechism ^exact 
size of type). 



134 THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

alderman, at the head of the Bridge, the 20th day 
of June 157 1. 

With the privilege of the great Queen. 



i57i 



This book was produced by John O'Kearney, 
sometime treasurer of St. Patrick's Cathedral, 
and his friend Nicholas Walsh, chancellor of St. 
Patrick's and afterwards Bishop of Ossory, and 
the John Usher who defrayed the expense was 
then Collector of Customs of the port of Dublin. 
Its appearance was considered a momentous 
event by those concerned with it, for great bene- 
fits were anticipated for the Irish people as soon 
as " their national tongue and its own dear alpha- 
bet " was reduced to print, as O'Kearney states 
at some length in the preface. He also tells us 
that the types from which this volume was 
printed were provided " at the cost of the high, 
pious, great, and mighty prince Elizabeth." 

In this connection it is worth while to notice 
two extant records, one among the State Papers 
(Irish Series) and the other among the Acts of 
the Privy Council. From the first, made some 
time in December 1567, we gather that Queen 
Elizabeth had already paid £C6, 13s. 4d. " for 
the making of carecters for the testament in 
irishe," and that this Testament was not yet in 
the press. The second (August 1587) states that 
the New Testament was translated into Irish by 
Walsh and O'Kearney, but " never imprynted, 
partlie for want of proper characters and men of 
that nacion and language skillful in the mystery 
of pryntyng," and partly on account of the cost. 

I can find no other record of the provision of 



EARLY PRINTING IN IRELAND. 135 

a fount of Irish types at the Queen's expense, 
and having no more definite information at hand 
on this point, and taking into consideration the 
contents of the book — an Irish alphabet, and 
directions for reading Irish, and a catechism, etc. 
(by way of exercise?) — its diminutive size and 
the imperfection of its print, 1 venture the sug- 
gestion that O'Kearney's work was printed as a 
trial of the new types given by the Queen and 
intended for printing the New Testament. This 
view is supported by the first words of the pref- 
ace : " Here, O reader, you have the first value 
and fruit of that great instructive work, which I 
have been producing and devising for you for 
a long time, that is, the faithful and perfect type 
of the Gaelic tongue." The conclusion seems to 
be that the types were inadequate for the larger 
work, and that for some reason there was a diffi- 
culty about supplying more or finding anyone to 
undertake the printing. 

The preface further says, after requesting cor- 
rections and amendments as regards the typog- 
raphy: "And it is not alone that I am asking 
you to give this kind friendly correction to the 
printing, but also to the translation or rendering 
made of this catechism put forth as far back as 
1563 of the age of the Lord and [which] is now 
more correct and complete, with the principal 
articles of the Christian faith associated there- 
with." This has led some to think that there 
was an earlier edition of the Alphabet and Cate- 
chism. But it seems plain that O'Kearney refers 
to the Catechism only, not to the whole book, 
and equally plain that the 1563 work, whatever it 
was, was not printed in Irish type, or there would 
have been no special occasion to glorify the 157 1 



136 THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

Alphabet and Catechism. Since nothing is known 
of the Catechism of 1563, it is very possible that it 
existed only in manuscript and never went to press. 

I have gone into this matter of the Irish 
Alphabet and Catechism of 15 71 somewhat at 
length, because I am not aware that it has ever 
yet received detailed attention. The quotations 
I have given from the preface are from an anony- 
mous manuscript translation inserted in the Brit- 
ish Museum copy. 

O'Kearney's Irish Alphabet and Catechism is so 
rare that only three copies are known to exist : 
one being in the British Museum, one in the 
Bodleian Library, and one in the library of Lin- 
coln Cathedral. The fount of types from which 
it was printed was not quite correct ; for instance, 
the small Roman " a " is used, and an " H " is in- 
troduced, a letter foreign to the Gaelic alphabet. 

During the seventeenth century, and even 
later, most of the Irish books were sent to be 
printed on the continent or in England. Several 
books by Irish authors, chiefly catechisms, works 
on the language, and dictionaries, bear the names 
of Louvain, Antwerp, Rome or Paris, such as the 
Catechism of Bonaventure Hussey, printed at 
Louvain in 1608, and reprinted at Antwerp in 
1611 and 1618. 



CHAPTER XIY. 

BOOK BINDINGS. 

A book as we know it is usually contained in 
a case or cover intended primarily for its pro- 
tection. The fastening together of the different 



BOOK BINDINGS. 137 

sections of the book, and the providing it with a 
cover, and, incidentally, the decoration of that 
cover, come under the head of bookbinding, or 
bibliopegy, as the learned call it. The process of 
binding consists of two parts: first, the arrange- 
ment of the leaves and sections in proper order, 
their preparation for sewing by beating or press- 
ing, the stitching of them together, and the fas- 
tening of them into the cover. This is called 
" forwarding." The other half of the work is 
the lettering and decoration of the cover, and is 
called " finishing." With the decoration of the 
cover only can we concern ourselves here. 

The art of binding books is far older than the 
art of printing. The first known attempt to pro- 
vide a cover by way of protection for a document 
was made by the workman who devised a clay 
case for the clay tablet-books of Babylonia, but 
this is as far from our notion of bookbinding as 
the tablets themselves are from our notion of 
books. Nor do the Roman bindings, which con- 
sisted of coloured parchment wrappers, come 
much nearer the modern conception. The ivory 
cases of the double-folding wax tablets or dip- 
tychs, too, of the second and third centuries, a.d., 
are also outside the pale, strictly speaking, but 
they deserve mention on account of the beautiful 
carving with which they are decorated, and on 
which some of the finest Byzantine art was ex- 
pended. 

One of the earliest bookbinders or book-cover 
decorators whose name has come down to us 
was Dagaeus, an Irish monk, and a clever worker 
in metals. Among the many beautiful objects 
in metal wrought in the old Irish monasteries 
were skilfully designed covers and clasps for the 



138 THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

books which were so highly prized in the " Isle 
of Saints." Nor were covers alone deemed suf- 
ficient protection from wear and tear. Satchels, 
or polaires, such as that mentioned in Adamnan's 
story of the miraculous preservation of St. Colum- 
ba's Hymn-book, were in common use for con- 
veying books from place to place. Very few 
specimens now remain, but there is one at Corpus 
Christi College, Cambridge, containing an Irish 
missal, and another, which is preserved at Trinity 
College, Dublin, together with the Book of Ar- 
magh, to which it belongs, is thus described by 
the Rev. T. K. Abbott, in the Book of Trinity 
College : — 

" An interesting object connected with the 
Book of Armagh is its leather satchel, finely em- 
bossed with figures of animals and interlaced 
work. It is formed of a single piece of leather, 
36 in. long and 12-J broad, folded so as to make 
a flat-sided pouch, 12 in. high, i2f broad, and 
2\ deep. Part of it is doubled over to make a 
flap, in which are eight brass-bound slits, corre- 
sponding to as many brass loops projecting from 
the case, in which ran two rods, meeting in the 
middle, where they were secured by a lock in 
early times. In Irish monastic libraries, books 
were kept in such satchels, which were suspended 
by straps from hooks in the wall. Thus it is 
related in an old legend that u on the night of 
Longaradh's death all the book-satchels in Ire- 
land fell down." 

In Ireland, too, specially valuable volumes 
were enclosed in a book-shrine, or cumhdach ; 
and although, like the satchels, these cumhdachs 
are not bindings in the proper sense of the word, 
yet since they were intended for the same pur- 



BOOK BINDINGS. 139 

pose as bindings, that is, the protection of the 
book, it will not be out of place to speak of 
them here. 

The use of bookshrines in Ireland was very 
possibly the survival of an early custom of the 
primitive Church. It seems to have been applied 
chiefly, if not always, to books too precious or 
sacred to be read. We are told that a Psalter 
belonging to the O'Donels was fastened up in a 
case that was not to be opened ; and were it ever 
unclosed, deaths and disasters would ensue to 
the clan. If borne by a priest of unblemished 
character thrice round their troops before a 
battle, it was believed to have the power of 
granting them victory, provided their cause were 
a righteous one. 

Cumhdachs were also used in Scotland, but 
no Scottish examples have survived. The oldest 
cumhdach now existing is one in the Museum of 
the Royal Irish Academy, which was made for 
the MS. known as Molaise's Gospels, at the be- 
ginning of the eleventh century. It is of bronze, 
and ornamented with silver plates bearing gilt 
patterns. Another book-shrine, made for the 
Stowe Missal a little later, is of oak, covered with 
silver plates, and decorated with a large oval 
crystal in the middle of one side. The Book of 
Kells once had a golden cumhdach, we are told, 
or, more correctly, perhaps, a cumhdach covered 
with gold plates ; but when the book was stolen 
from the church of Kells in 1006 it was despoiled 
of its costly case, with which the robbers made 
off, leaving the most precious part of their booty, 
the book itself, lying on the ground hidden by 
a sod. 

One of the earliest bookbinders in this country 



140 THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

was a bishop, Ethilwold of Lindisfarne, who 
bound the great Book of the Gospels that his 
predecessor Eadfrid had written. For the same 
book BillfriS the anchorite made a beautiful 
metal cover, gilded and bejewelled. The Lindis- 
farne Gospels still exists, but the cover which 
now contains it, though costly, is quite new. 
Like most ancient book covers the original one 
has been lost, or destroyed for the sake of its 
valuable material. 

Among the earlier mediaeval bindings those of 
the Byzantine school of art rank very high. They 
were exceedingly splendid, for gold was their pre- 
vailing feature, and jewels and enamel were also 
lavished upon them. 

The ordinary books of the middle ages were 
usually bound in substantial oak boards covered 
with leather, and often having clasps, corners, 
and protecting bosses of metal. In the twelfth 
century the English leather bindings produced at 
London, Winchester, Durham and other centres, 
were pre-eminent. Miss Prideaux instances some 
books which were bound for Bishop Pndsey, and 
which are now in the cathedral library of Durham, 
as " perhaps the finest monuments of this class of 
work in existence." The sides of these volumes 
are blind-tooled ; that is, the designs are impressed 
by means of dies or tools with various patterns 
and representations of men and of fabulous crea- 
tures, but not gilded. 

Certain volumes, however, were treated with 
particular honour, either at the expense of a 
wealthy and book-loving owner, or for the pur- 
pose of presentation to some great personage, 
and for these sumptuous bindings the materials 
employed were various and costly. A Latin 



BOOK BINDINGS. 14 1 

psalter which was written for Melissenda, wife of 
Fulk, Count of Anjou and King of Jerusalem, 
has a very wonderful French binding. The covers 




Upper cover of Melissenda's Psalter. 

are of wood, and each bears a series of delicate 
ivory carvings of Byzantine work. An upper 



142 THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

cover shows incidents in the life of David, 
and symbolical figures, and the lower cover 
scenes representing the works of Mercy, with 
figures of birds and animals. Rubies and 
turquoises dotted here and there help to 
beautify the ivory. This book is in the British 
Museum. 

Another specimen in the same collection may 
be taken as an example of the use of enamel as a 
decoration for bindings. This is a Latin manu- 
script of the Gospels of SS. Luke and John, which 
is enclosed in wooden boards bound in red 
leather. In the upper cover is a sunk panel 
of Limoges enamel on copper gilt, representing 
Christ in glory. The work is of the thirteenth 
century. These enamelled bindings were often 
additionally decorated with gold and jewels. 

A curious little modification of the ordinary 
leather binding was sometimes made in the case 
of small devotional works. The leather of the 
back and sides was continued at the bottom in a 
long tapering slip, at the *sad of which was a kind 
of button, so that the book might be fastened to 
the dress or girdle. , Slender chains w 7 ere often 
used for the same purpose. 

About the time of the invention of printing, 
leather bindings began to be decorated with gold 
tooling. Tooling is the name given to the 
designs impressed upon the leather with various 
small dies so manipulated as to make a con-, 
nected pattern. When the impressions are gilded 
the dull leather is brightened and beautified in 
proportion to the skill and taste expended by the 
workman. The art of gold tooling is believed to 
have originated in the East, and to have been 
brought to Italy by Venetian traders, or, as it 



BOOK BINDINGS. 143 

has also been suggested, through the manuscripts 
which were dispersed at the fall of Constanti- 
nople. In any case, it was in Italy that it was 
first adopted and brought to perfection, and other 
European countries learned the art from Italian 
craftsmen. Chief among the early Italian gilt 
bindings are those made of the finest leathers and 
inscribed tho. maioli et amicorvm. Nothing 
w T hatever is known of Thomasso Maioli, except 
that he had a large library and spared no expense 
in clothing his books in bibliopegic purple and 
fine linen. 

What Maioli appears to have been among 
Italian book-collectors, Jean Grolier, Viscomte 
d'Aguisy, was among French bibliophiles. He 
held for a time the post of Treasurer of the 
Duchy of Milan, and while in Italy he collected 
books for his library and made the acquaintance 
of Aldus Manutius. Many of the Aldine books 
are dedicated to him, for Aldus occasionally 
stood in need of financial aid and found in 
Grolier a generous and practical patron of litera- 
ture. Some of the famous bindings which dis- 
tinguish Grolier's books were executed in Italy, 
others in France, where Italian bookbinders were 
then teaching their art to the native workmen. 
They display the same style of design that 
decorates the books of Maioli, and Maioli's 
benevolent inscription too, Grolier adapted to 
his own use, and stamped upon certain of his 
books 10. grolierii et amicorvm. The exact 
signification of these words is obscure. At first 
sight they might appear to refer delicately to the 
joy with which the owner of the book would 
place it at the disposal of his friends, but this 
does not accord with what is known of the char- 



144 THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

acter of book-lovers. Perhaps their only mean- 
ing is that Maioli and Grolier were at all times 
ready to please their friends and to gratify them- 
selves by exhibiting their treasures. But since 
several copies of the same work are known to 
have been bound for Grolier — for instance, five 
copies of the Aldine Virgil — it has been sug- 
gested that he occasionally made presents of his 
books, though he drew the line at lending them. 

Grolier's copy of the De Medicina of Celsus, 
which is in the British Museum, is bound in a 
somewhat different style from that usually asso- 
ciated with his name. It is in brown leather ; 
blind-tooled except for some gold and coloured 
roundels in different parts of the device. In the 
centre of both covers is a medallion in colours, 
that on the upper cover representing Curtius 
leaping into the abyss in the Forum, and that on 
the lower cover representing the defence of the 
bridge by Horatius. This is an Italian binding. 

Although it was Italy who first improved upon 
the usual methods of mediaeval binding, and 
from her that France took lessons in this new 
and better way of clothing books, it was France 
who was destined to bring the art to its highest 
excellence. Having learned her lesson, she per- 
fected herself in it, and the workmen of the six- 
teenth and seventeenth centuries, such as Geoffroy 
Tory, Nicholas, Clovis, and Robert Eve, and Le 
Gascon, carried French bookbinding into the very 
first rank, where it may be considered to remain 
to this day. 

Some of the finest French examples extant are 
those which were executed for Henry II. and 
Diana of Poitiers, Duchess of Valentinois. Both 
were ardent bibliophiles, and both indulged in 



BOOK BINDINGS. 145 

very sumptuous bindings for their books. Some 
of the chief treasures in our great libraries to-day 
are the beautiful volumes which Henry presented 
to the duchess, and which are ornamented with 
the royal lilies of France, accompanied by the 
bows and arrows aud crescents which were Diana's 
own badges and the initials of the king and the 
duchess. 

Catherine de Medicis also was an enthusiastic 
book collector, which may surprise those who 
think that a person who is devoted to books is 
necessarily harmless. Some of her books she 
brought to France as part of her dowry, others 
she acquired by fair means or foul as was most 
convenient, and to their bindings she paid par- 
ticular attention and kept a staff of bookbinders 
in her employ. 

To such a pitch of extravagance did the biblio- 
philes of the period go in the binding of their 
books, that in 1583 Henry III. of France decreed 
that ordinary citizens should not use more than 
four diamonds to the decoration of one book, 
and the nobility not more than five. The king 
himself, however, was as extravagant as any of 
his subjects, at any rate as regards the designs 
he favoured. Many of his books are clad in 
black morocco, bearing representations of skulls, 
cross-bones, tears, and other melancholy emblems. 
He developed his taste for these strange decora- 
tions when, as Duke of Anjou, he loved and lost 
Mary of Cleves. 

The early printers at first executed their own 
bookbinding, but presently left it to the stationers. 
It was generally only the larger works which they 
thought worth covering, and the small ones were 
simply stitched. Antony Koburger, of whom 
10 



146 THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

mention has already been made, bound his own 
books and ornamented them in a style peculiarly 
his own. Caxton bound his according to the 
prevailing fashion, with leather sides, plain or 
blind-tooled with diagonal lines, forming diamond- 
shaped compartments in each of which is stamped 
a species of dragon. 

About the sixteenth century it became fashion- 
able to have one's books 

" Full goodly bound in pleasant coverture 
Of damask, satin, or else of velvet pure," 

as a writer of the time expresses it, and this style 
naturally lent itself to the needleworked decora- 
tion. This decoration was especially favoured in 
England, and the ladies of the period executed 
some very fine pieces of embroidery as " pleasant 
covertures" for their books, using coloured silks 
and gold and silver thread on velvet or other 
material. One of the earliest embroidered bind- 
ings covers a description of the Holy Land, written 
by Martin Brion, and dedicated to Henry VIII. 
It is of crimson velvet, with the English arms 
enclosed in the Garter, between two H's, and the 
Tudor rose in each corner, and it is worked in silks, 
gold thread and seed pearls. Queen Elizabeth 
is said to have preferred embroidered bindings 
to those of leather, and to have been very skilful 
in working them. The copy of De Antiquitate 
Britannicce Ecclesice, which the author, Arch- 
bishop Parker, presented to the Queen, has a 
cover which is very elaborately embroidered in- 
deed. It is of contemporary English w r ork, and 
is thus described in the British Museum Guide 
to the Printed Books exhibited in the King's Li- 
brary : — 



BOOK BINDINGS. 147 

" Green velvet, having as a border a represen- 
tation of the paling of a deer park, embroidered 
in gold and silver thread; the border on the 
upper cover enclosing a rose bush bearing red 
and white roses, surrounded by various other 
flowers, and by deer ; the lower cover has a 
similar border, but contains deer, snakes, plants 
and flowers; the whole being executed in gold 
and silver thread and coloured silks. On the 
back are embroidered red and white roses." Em- 
broidered bindings remained in fashion during 
the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and plain 
velvet, too, was often used, sometimes with gold 
or silver mounts. 

The old Royal Library, which was given to the 
nation by George II., contains a large number of 
sumptuous bookbindings; and that our Sovereigns 
were not unmindful of the welfare of their literary 
treasures may also be gathered from various 
entries in the Wardrobe Books and from other 
documents. Thus, we read that Edward IV. 
paid Alice Clavers, " for the makyng of xvj. laces 
and xvj. tassels for the garnysshing of divers of the 
kinge's bookes ijs. viijd." ; and " Piers Bauduyn, 
stacioner, for bynding gilding and dressing of a 
booke called Titus Livius xxs., for binding gilding 
and dressing of a booke of the The Holy Trinity 
xvjs.," and so on. Again, in the bill delivered 
to Henry VIII. by Thomas Berthelet, his majesty's 
printer and binder, are found such entries as 
these : — - 

"Item delyvered to the kinge's hyghnes the 
vj. day of January a Psalter in englische and 
latine covered with crimoysyn satyne, 2s." 

" Item delyvered to the kinge's hyghes for a 
little Psalter, takyng out of one booke and settyng 



148 THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

in an other in the same place, and for gorgeous 
binding of the same booke xijd. ; and to the 
Goldesmythe for taking off the claspes and corners 
and for setting on the same ageyne xvjd." 

Among the various styles which may be classed 
as fancy bindings may be instanced the seven- 
teenth century tortoise-shell covers with silver 
mounts and ornaments, which have a very hand- 
some effect, and the mosaic decoration of the 
same period. This mosaic decoration was made 
by inlaying minute pieces of differently coloured 
leathers, and finishing them with gold tooling. 
It was work which called for great dexterity in 
manipulation, and in skilful hands the result was 
very pretty and graceful. 

Even from this slight sketch it will be seen 
that bookbindings have always presented un- 
limited opportunities for originality on the part 
of the worker, as regards both design and ma- 
terial. Wood and leather, gold and silver, ivory 
and precious stones, coloured enamels, impressed 
papier-mache, gold-tooled leather and embroid- 
ered fabric, pasteboard and parchment, have all 
been pressed into the service, and the subject of 
bookbindings is a fascinating branch of book 
history. But from their nature bindings are dif- 
ficult to describe in an interesting manner, and 
words can hardly do justice to them without the 
aid of facsimile illustrations. 

The ordinary bindings of to-day are prac- 
tically confined to two styles, the cloth and the 
leather, and those combinations of leather and 
cloth or leather and paper which make the 
covers of half-bound and quarter-bound vol- 
umes. Cloth binding, the binding of the nine- 
teenth century, is an English invention, and 



BOOK BINDINGS. 149 

came into use in 1823. On the Continent books 
are still issued in paper covers and badly stitched, 
on the assumption that if worth binding at all, 
they will be bound by the purchaser as he pleases. 
But although the English commercial cloth bind- 
ing is often charged for far too highly, no one 
can deny its convenience, and its superiority over 
the paper undress of foreign works. Moreover, 
it is the homely, everyday garb of the great 
majority of our favourite volumes, and though, 
no doubt, it is delightful to possess books sumpt- 
uously bound, book-lovers of less ambition, or 
of lighter purses than those who can command 
such luxuries, are not very much to be pitied. 
There is something characteristic about a book 
in a cloth cover which it loses when it dons the 
livery of its owner's library. Cloth is not only 
more varied in texture, but admits of greater 
freedom and variety of design than does leather, 
so there is something to be said in its favour in 
spite of the contention that direct handicraft is 
preferable to handicraft which works through a 
machine, and that one of a batch of bindings 
printed by the thousand is not to be compared 
with a single specimen of tooled leather which 
has cost a pair of human hands hours of careful 
toil. The little libraries with which so many of 
us have to be contented owe their bright and 
cheerful appearance to the cloth covers of the 
books, in which each book stands out with mod- 
est directness, wearing its individuality instead 
of losing it in a crowd of neighbours dressed 
exactly like itself. In a series uniformly bound, 
however, a family likeness is not only admissible, 
but pleasing. It gives an idea of unison among, 
perhaps, widely differing individuals. But the 



150 THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

unison which is becoming to a family makes a 
community monotonous. 

On the other hand, something stronger than 
cloth is necessary when books are to be sub- 
jected to special wear and tear, and desirable 
when a volume is. to be particularly honoured or 
when the library it is to enter is large and impor- 
tant. Protection is the first purpose of a bind- 
ing, and endurance its first quality, and the expe- 
rience of centuries has shown that the walls in 
the fairy-tale were right when they said, 

" Gilding will fade in damp weather, 
To endure, there is nothing like leather." 

In which, perhaps, the book-lover will see a para- 
ble. For, after all, the book is the thing, and the 
cover a mere circumstance, and those who wish 
to make books merely pegs to hang bindings 
upon deserve to have no books at all. Yet it is 
right that though the binding should not be 
raised above the book, it should be worthy of the 
book, and much of the cheap and good literature 
which is now within the reach of all who care to 
stretch out their hands for it, is clothed in a 
manner to which no exception can be taken on 
any score. Those who have not realised how 
charming some of the modern bookbindings can 
be, should consult the winter number of The 
Studio for 1 899-1 900. 



HOW A MODERN BOOK IS PRODUCED. 151 

CHAPTER XV. 

HOW A MODERN BOOK IS PRODUCED. 

A description of the methods by which a 
modern book is produced has to begin at the 
second stage of the proceedings. The processes 
of the first stage, including the writing of the 
book and the arrangements between the pub- 
lisher and the author, differ, of course, in indi- 
vidual cases. The processes of the second stage, 
however, are common to a large proportion of 
the books produced at the present day, though it 
will be easily understood that they can be dealt 
with but summarily in this chapter, and that as 
regards detail much variation is possible. 

The second stage in the history of a modern 
book may be said to begin with the overhauling 
which the manuscript receives at the hands of 
the printer's " Reader," who goes over it with 
the view of instructing the compositor regarding 
capitals, punctuation, chapter headings and other 
details. Although these are considered minor 
and merely clerical details which are frequently 
neglected or misused in writing, it is essential 
that they be carefully attended to in print. 
Many examples can be given of amusing mis- 
prints and alterations of meaning caused by even 
such a trifle as the misplacing of a comma. 
When this overhauling is completed the manu- 
script is ready to be sent to the composing room 
where the types are set up. 

From experience the printer knows that many 
authors get a very different impression of their 
matter when they see it in type from what they 



152 THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

had when they read it in manuscript, and it fre- 
quently happens that alterations on proof are 
very numerous in consequence. When either 
from this or any other cause numerous altera- 
tions are anticipated, the matter is first set up in 
long slips called " galleys," and not put at once 
into page form. As soon as a few of those 
galleys are composed an impression called a 
" proof " is taken from the types so set, and this 
proof is passed to a reader whose duty is to see 
that a correct copy is made of the manuscript, 
and that the spelling is accurate and the punc- 
tuation good. This is a work commanding con- 
siderable intelligence and experience, as the num- 
ber of types required for a printed page is very 
great, and even the most expert compositor can- 
not avoid mistakes. This marked proof is re- 
turned to the compositor to make the necessary 
corrections. Fresh proofs are got till no further 
errors are detected, when a final proof is pulled 
and sent to the author, who makes such altera- 
tions as he may desire. 

When the corrected proofs are returned by 
the author they are given to the compositor, 
who makes the required alterations in the type. 
After this a revised proof is submitted. When 
the author is satisfied that the reading is as he 
wishes he returns the proofs, and the galleys are 
now made into page form. If it is not expected 
that the author will make many changes the types 
are arranged in page shape before any proofs are 
shown to him, and the work goes through some- 
what more quickly. 

When the types are divided into pages they 
are placed in sets or " formes," each forme being 
secured in an iron frame called a " chase," which 



HOW A MODERN BOOK IS PRODUCED. 153 

can be conveniently moved about. Each chase is 
of a size to enclose as many pages as will cover 
one side of the sheet of paper to be used in 
printing. Fifty years ago only one or two sizes 
of paper were made, and the size of sheet gener- 
ally used for books was that which allowed eight 
pages of library size on one side, hence called 
" octavo " size, or when folded another way 
allowed twelve pages, hence " twelvemo " or 
" duodecimo." Other sizes occasionally used are 
called "sixteenmo" or " sixtodecimo," "eighteen- 
mo " or "octodecimo," etc. 

With larger sized printing machines now driven 
by steam or electricity, there is greater variety in 
the size of formes and papers used in printing. 
In all cases, however, the number of pages laid 
down for one side of paper must divide by four. 
The pages are set in the chase in special posi- 
tions, so that when the sheet is printed on both 
sides and folded over and over for binding they 
will appear in proper sequence. 

When only a small edition of a book is v/anted 
the printing is generally done direct from the 
types, but when a large number of copies is re- 
quired or frequent editions are expected, stereo- 
type or electrotype plates are made. By this 
means the types are released for further use and 
other advantages obtained. 

Stereotype plates are cakes of white metal 
carrying merely the face of the types, and were 
formerly made by taking from the types a mould 
of plaster of Paris. They are now formed by 
beating or pressing a prepared pulp of papier- 
mache into the face of the lettering. The mould 
thus obtained is dried and hardened by heat, 
then molten metal is run into it of requisite thick- 



154 TH E STORY OF BOOKS. 

ness. This plate after being properly dressed is 
fitted on a block equal in height to the type 
stem, and takes the place in the frame or chase 
that would have been occupied by the types. 

The process of stereotyping is fairly quick and 
economical, but electrotypes are better suited for 
higher class work and are much more durable. 
In this process an impression is taken from the 
type on a surface of wax heated to the necessary 
degree of plasticity. When the wax mould has 
cooled and hardened it is placed in a galvanic 
current, where a thin coat of copper is deposited 
on its face. This coat is then detached from the 
mould and backed with white metal to give it 
the requisite body and stiffness and the electro- 
type is now, like the stereotype, a metal plate 
which can be fixed on a block and secured in a 
frame ready for the printing machine. 

It is outside the scope of this work to de- 
scribe minutely the marvellous machinery used in 
printing. It is interesting to know that the first 
printers had no machine but a screw handpress 
by which they laboriously worked off their books 
page by page, and that even so late as the middle 
of the nineteenth century all books with scarcely 
an exception were printed at handpresses which 
enabled two men to throw off about two hundred 
and fifty copies of a comparatively small-sized 
sheet in the hour. Now the machines commonly 
in use, attended by only a man and a lad, throw 
off from a thousand to fifteen hundred copies in 
an hour of a sheet four or even eight times the 
size. 

Books are almost universally printed on what 
is called the flat-bed machine, so-called because 
the types or plates are placed on an iron table 



HOW A MODERN BOOK IS PRODUCED. 155 

which with them travels to and fro under a series 
of revolving rollers constantly being fed with a 
supply of ink which they transfer to the types or 
plates. Immediately these get beyond the inking 
rollers they pass under a revolving cylinder with 
a set of grippers attached, which open and shut 
with each revolution. These grippers receive 
the sheet of paper and carry it round with the 
cylinder. When it comes in contact with the 
types or plates travelling underneath, the impres- 
sion or print is made. Some machines complete 
the printing of the sheet on both sides at one 
operation. In others the sheet is reversed and 
is printed on the other side by passing through 
a second time. In either case the sheet forms 
only a section of a book ; the complete volume 
is made up of a number of. these sections, folded 
and collated in proper order in the binding. 
There they are sewn together and fixed in the 
case or cover. 

For illustrated books the pictures were for- 
merly produced by engraving on wood, but they 
are now chiefly photographed from the artist's 
drawing on a light sensitive film spread on a metal 
plate, and etched in by acids. In whatever way 
produced, when printed with the text they are 
always relief blocks which are placed in proper 
position in the chase alongside the types or plates. 
Coloured illustrations are produced by successive 
printings. Special illustrations are frequently pro- 
duced separately by other processes and inserted 
in the volume by the binder. 

Machines of a different construction, such as 
the rotary press, and capable of a very much 
higher rate of production, are in use for printing 
newspapers and periodicals with a large circula- 



156 THE STORY OF BOOKS. 

tion, but these do not properly come into con- 
sideration when telling how a modern book is 
made. 

[ This chapter has been kindly contributed. 

G. £. £.] 



AUTHOR'S POSTSCRIPT. 

In our endeavour to note the chief points in 
the history of books, and in considering the 
manifold interests which are bound up with their 
bodies, we have had to neglect their minds. To 
have tried even to touch upon the vast subject 
of literature in our story would have been as 
futile as an attempt to transport the ocean in 
a thimble. For literature consists of all that is 
transferable of human knowledge and experience, 
all that is expressible of human thought on 
whatever matter in heaven or earth has been 
dreamed of in man's philosophy. And though 
our aggregate of knowledge be small, it is vastly 
beyond the comprehension of one individual 
being. 

Of the influence of books, and their manifold 
uses, also, this is not the place to speak. More- 
over, even had the theme been unheeded by abler 
pens, no one who loves books needs to be told to 
how many magic portals they are the keys, while 
he who loves them not would not understand for 
all the telling in the world. 



INDEX. 



A. 

Aberdeen Breviary, 126, 127. 
Advertisements, early booksellers, 

100. 
Alcuin, 60. 

Aldus Manutius, 99, 107, 109, 130. 
Aleria, Bp. of, 99. 
Alexandria, 16, 29, 143. 
Alost, no. 
Alphabet, the, 10. 
Amsterdam, 112. 
Antiquarii, 47. 
Antwerp, 136. 
Arabs, the, 12 
Assyria, 12, 13, 28. 
Assyrians, n. 
Augsberg, 98. 
Aungervyle, R. (See Richard de 

Bury.) 
Ave Maria Lane, 49. 
Avignon, 80. 

B. 

Babylonia, 12, 28, 137. 
Babylonians, 11. 
Bamberg, 71, 90, 98. 
Basle, 98. 

Benedict, Biscop, 59. 
Beowulf, 24. 
Berthelet, Thomas, 147. 
Bible, the, 17. 

Mazarin or Gutenberg, 89, 94. 

thirty-six-line, 92. 

Mentz, 1462, 97. 

Biblia Pauperum, 70, 73, 84. 
Bibliotheque Nationale, 63, 64. 
Bindings, 136, 150. 
Block-books, 70, 76. 
Block-printing, 67. 
Bonhomme, Pasquier, no. 
Book of Durrow, 37. 



Book of Kells, 37, 39. 

St. Albans, 24, 121, 124. 

St. Cuthbert. (See Lindis- 

farne Gospels.) 
Book, production of modern, 151. 
Bookbinding, 137-150. 
Books, adventures of, 137. 

beginning of, 10. 

— — chained, 55, 66. 

heretical, 22. 

in classical times, 25. 

in monasteries, 20-23, 44* I 37- 

not to be destroyed, 21. 

ornamenting of, 35. 

prices of, 47, 51. 

sizes of, 153. 

Booksellers, 27, 28, 48-51. 

Bordesley, Abbey, 65. 

Breslau, 98. 

Brethren of the Common Life, in. 

Breviary, Aberdeen, 126, 127. 

Bruges, 49, 98, no, in, 113-115. 

Brussels, in. 

" Brussels " Print, 69. 

Byzantium, 17, 32. 

C. 

Caedmon, 24. 

Cambridge, 55, 123, 132, 138. 

Campanus, 99, 103. 

Canterbury, 42, 57, 59. 

Carrells, 54. 

Carswell's Prayer-book, 130. 

Catalogues, early booksellers', 99, 

monastic library, 55-58. 

Catechism, Irish Alphabet and, 130, 

132, 136. 
Caxton, 82,99-102, 110-120, 121, 146. 
Censorship, Ecclesiastical, 51, 52. 

University, 51. 

Chelsea, 66. 
Chepman, Walter, 126. 

157 



i58 



THE STORY OF BOOKS. 



China, 14, 67, jj. 
Clairvaux Abbey, 54. 
Clement of Padua, 105. 
Clugni, Abbey of, 57. 
Cologne, 98, 114, 115. 
Colophons, 102. 
Copyists, 26, 27, 29, 31, 47-49. 
Copyright, 27. 
Corvey, Abbot of, 62. 
Coster, Laurenz, 76, 78-84. 
Cranz, Martin, 109. 
Creed Lane, 49. 
Cumhdachs, 138, 139. 

D. 

Davidson, Thomas, 128. 

Dictes or Sayengis, 116, 119. 

Diemudis, 46. 

Donatus, 73, 74, 106. 

Dorchester, 47. 

Dublin, 104, 130-132, 134, 138. 

Durham, 42, 57, 140. 



E. 

Edinburgh, 104, 124, 126, 128-130. 
Egypt, 12, 13, 18-20, 27-30, 67. 
Electrotype plates, printing from, 

154- 
Elizabeth, Queen, 119, 134, 135, 146. 
Elzevirs, the, 111, 112. 
England, 22, 35, 98-100, 112. 



F. 

Faust or Fust, 84, 88, 94-97. 

Fichet, Guillaume, 109. 

1' lorence, 98. 

Fountains Abbey, 54. 

France, 22, 73, 74, 98, 109, 124, 126, 

143, 144- . 
Friburger, Michael, 109. 



Game and playe of the Chesse, 115, 

".7* 

Gering, Ulric, 109 

Germany, 22, 62, 68, 73, 79, 98, 100, 

no. 
Glastonbury Abbey, 57. 
Gloucester, 55. 
Greece, 12, 14, 17-19, 22, 29. 
Greeks, the, n. 
Grolier, Jean, 143, 144. 



Guild of St. John the Evangelist, 49. 
Gutenberg, 78-81, 84-96. 

H. 

Haarlem, 76-78, 81-83, no. 

Hahn, Ulrich, 99, 103, 106. 

Herculaneum, 17. 

Hereford Cathedral, 66. 

Holborn, 121, 131. 

Holland, 71, 73, 76, 79, 84, 99, no, 

113, 121, 124. 
Hostingue, Laurence, 124. 

I. 

Illuminators, 46, 48, 49. 
Ireland, 35 36, 37, 99, 131, 138. 
Irish Alphabet and Catechism, 130, 

132-136. 
Italy, 22, 23, 34, 73, 99, 100, 104-107, 

142, 143. 
Italic type, 107. 

J. 

Japan, 67, 77. 

Jenson, Nicolas, 102, 107, 123. 

Junius, Hadrian, 83. 



K. 

Kelmscott press, 76. 
Ketelaer, Nycolaum, no. 
Kirkstall Abbey, 54. 
Klosterneuberg, 71. 
Koburger, Antony, 100, 145. 

L. 

Lanfranc, 44. 

Latin document, earliest, 14. 

Latin names of towns, 103. 

Leempt, Gerard de, no. 

Lettou, John, 120. 

Leicester, 57. 

Lekprevik, Roibeard, 129, 130. 

Leland, 57. 

Leyden, in, 112. 

Libraries, ancient, 27-34. 

collegiate, 55. 

monastic, 53-62. 

Librarii, 16, 47. 
Lignamine, J. P. de, 105. 
Lindisfarne Gospels, 40-42, 140. 
Lincoln Cathedral, 136. 



INDEX. 



'59 



Literature, Anglo-Saxon, 23 

beginning of, 13. 

of Greece, 14, 19. 

Literatures, antique, 14. 

London, 48, 49, 51, 98, 103, 104, 113, 

121, I40. 

Louvain, no, in, 136. 
Lubeck, 98. 
Lyons, 98, 109. 

M. 

Machlinia, William de, 103, 121. 
Maioli, Thomasso, 143, 144. 
Mansion, Colard, no, 111, 114, 115. 
Manuscript, oldest Biblical, 17. 

oldest Homeric, 17. 

oldest New Testament, 17, 20. 

Manuscripts, Arabic, 20. 

Arabic-Spanish, 53. 

■ Byzantine, 36. 

Classical, 17, 20. 

■ Coptic, 20. 

of Four Gospels, 19. 

Greek, 14, 17. 

Hiberno -Saxon, 41. 

Illuminated, 35-44. 

Irish, 36-39, 42. 

Italian, 36. 

Moorish, 53. 

printed illustrations in, 69. 

Syriac, 20. 

Winchester, 43. 

of Virgil, 19. 

Marienthal, 111. 

Mentelin, John, 100. 

Mentz, 78, 82-85, 87, 88, 90-92, 95, 

96, 104, in, 115. 
Monasteries, books in, 20-23, x 37t 

J 38. . 
Monastic writing, 15, 19-21, 23, 44, 

46, 47. 
Morris, William^ 76. 
Musical notes printed, 97, 121. 
Myllar, Andrew, 124-127. 

N. 

Naples, 98. 
Netley Abbey, 54. 
New Testament, 17, 21. 
Nineveh, 14. 
Nuremberg, 98, 100, 111. 



O'Kearney, John, 132, 134-136. 
Old Testament, 12, 14, 16. 



Omar, Caliph, 31. 

Oxford, 50, 55, 59, 60, 62, 98, 123. 

Oxyrhynchus, 19. 

P. 

Paternoster Row, 49. 

Palestine, 20. 

Palimpsests, 23. 

Pannartz. (See Sweynheim.) 

Papyrus, 12. 

Paris, 50, 59, 71, 88, 98, 100, 101, 104, 

136. 
— ; — Council of, 58. 
Philobiblon, 15, 45. 
Peterborough, 57. 
Petrarch, 22, 64, 107. 
Pfister, Albrecht, 90. 
Poggio Bracciolini, 22. 
Powell, Humfrey, 137. 
Printed illustrations in MSS., 69. 
Printers as editors and publishers, 

99. 

as booksellers, 99, 

as bookbinders, 145. 

Printing, 11, 67-136. 

in colours, 97. 

machines for, 153-155. 

Psalter, Melissanda's, 141, 142. 

Mentz, 1457, 97. 

Queen Mary's, 43. 

Publication, mediaeval, 48. 
Publishers, 48, 104. 
Pye or Pica, 100. 
Pynson, Richard, 102. 

R. 

"R" Printer, 101. 

Ramsey Abbey, 57. 

Reichenau Abbey, 57. 

Richard de Bury, 22, 45, 47, 60, 61, 

64. 
Romans, 11. 

Rome, 12, 14-19, 27, 98, 103, 105, 106. 
Rood, Theodore, 123. 
Rostock, in. 
Rouen, 100, 124. 

Royal Library of England, 65, 147. 
■ of France, 64. 

S. 

Satchels or Polaires, 138. 
Schceffer, Peter, 88, 89, 95, 96, 99. 
Scandinavians, 11. 
Scotland, 99, 124, 139. 
Seraglio library, 33. 



i6o 



THE STORY OF BOOKS. 



Sopwell, 124. 
Spain, 22, 98. 
Speculum Humanse Salvationis, 74- 

76, 83, 84, 87. 
Spira, John de, 103, 106, 123. 

Vindelinus de, 104, 107. 

Spires, 98. 

John of. (See Spira.) 

St. Albans, 98, 123, 124. 
St. Andrews, 130. 
St. Boniface, 35. 
St. Columba, 39, 40, 138. 
"St. Christopher" Print, 68. 
St. Gall, Abbey of, 22, 57. 
St. Paul's Cathedral, 49. 
Stationers, 48, 145. 

Company of, 49. 

Stereotype plates, printing from, 53. 

Stirling, 130. 

Story, John, 128. 

Strasburg, 85-88, 98, 100, 101, 104. 

Subiaco, 98, 106. 

Sweynheim and Pannartz, 98, 99, 

101, 106. 

T. 

Tablets, 11, 12, 137. 

The Hague, 112. 

Theodore, Abp., 42, 60. 

Therhoernen, Arnold, 103, 104. 

Tintern Abbey, 54. 

Titchfield Abbey, 55, 56. 

Title-page, 102-104, 

Tooling, 142. 

Type or Types, Aldino, 107, 108. 

Caxton's, 119. 

Early, 101. 

Gaelic or Irish, 132, 134-136. 

Gothic, 101, 109. 



Type or Types, Greek, 98. 

Italic, 107. 

Moveable, 77-84. 

Roman, 101, 109. 

Subiaco, 105. 

Scottish printers', 128, 129. 

Wood and metal, 10 1. 

U. 

Ulm, 98. 

Usher, John, 132. 

Utrecht, no, 112. 

V. 

Veldener, John, no. 

Venice, 64, 98, 102-104, 10 ^>i io 7* I2 3» 

Vienna, 71. 

Virgil, Aldine, 108, 109, 144. 

W. 

Waldfoghel, Procopius, 80. 

Walsh, JNicholas, 134. 

Westminster, 98, in, 115-117, 121. 

Whitby, 57. 

Wimborne Minister, 66. 

Winchester, 43, 47, 59, 140. 

Woodcuts, early English, 117. 

Worcester, 54. 

Writers of Text Letter, 48. 

Writing, 10, n. 

Wynkyn de Worde, 115, 121, 124. 



Z. 



Zel, Ulric, 98. 
Zutphen, 66. 



THE END. 



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